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Somewhere in the Eastern Forests |
See opening pose. |
8 Days After Landing |
Search parties had been assembled and sent out to investigate where the unidentified falling object had landed. It is getting dark now as the delinquents approach the landing spot, with the skies turning a darker blue and the pinpoints of stars peeking into view. This group of delinquents crest a hill where the forest thins a bit to the east, and are given a view of a sprawling valley of grasses and shrubs. A great tear in the earth marks where the escape pod fell and struck. It cuts through the valley in a short groove, looking a bit managled from the fall. Its parachute had opened at some point, slowing the ship's fall, but the trajectory still made it a fairly rough landing.
Ruth herself doesn't possess any items of worth that aren't already on her person. She was obviously loathe to leave her constantly-supervised fire for whatever reason, giving it a rueful parting glance, but she slung the bag that contains her sling, stones, and other goodies over her shoulder and started racing in the direction of the treeline with purpose. She wants to be the first. Classic. She eventually met up with a search party and tagged along with them, her feet failing to tire even as the walk wears on. Amazing what some berries and nuts can do for energy.
After a quick look at the furrow, Morgan slowly turns in place to see if they weren't the only ones coming to see what else fell to Earth. "We'll want to collect the parachute for more tent material and threads." he notes to no one in particular. Hopefully someone will figure out how to make needle so he can sew. He hasn't drawn his sword though his hand rests on the hilt like he's seen in videos.
As he crests the hill, Cameron hesitates a moment to look down at the wound in earth the pod left, blinking a moment, "That's smaller then I expected." He glances over towards Morgan, and pulls out his sword, a quick smile on his lips, and he nods his head in agreement, "Yeah, and anything else we can manage to pull out from the inside. There might be some electronics, something. I don't know. Whatever it is we leave an empty shell behind." Then he heads down the hill to make the way towards the pod.
"A pod…" Cole instantly knows it when he sees it, having perhaps seen them in his past work at some point. "Goddamn…well, I knew it was fuckin /something/." he remarks upon getting to the top of the hill and getting a good look. There's a glance from the sky, then to the ground, as if trying to mentally track how it fell in the image of his mind. "Something fuckin happened. Shouldn't of landed like that. Landed hard at a bad angle." Doesn't know what could've caused it, but now he's really interested in finding out why that happened. And well, obviously if anyone is even alive in it. He doesn't say aloud the kind of impact the passenger might've felt. Perhaps he's just hoping whosever inside it wasn't reduced to paste.
Quinn's got her sword, and a very specific focus. She glances towards those that keep mentioning things, shaking her head a bit, "Before you all go off half-cocked you might want to wait to see what's inside. Plus, if it is guns…you need to slow down and let those of us that have handled them before take possession until people are shown how to not blow their toes off." It's a diplomatic thing, right?
Cassandra finds herself in an unfortunate position. Unlike the last expedition she went out on, no one here owes her a favour in recent memory, particularly no one who is known to be very good at hitting things and who is large enough to hide behind. So in the absence of a meatshield, today she decides to find less safety, but perhaps the advantage of know-how and social influence, with 'brain shields', which is why she selects Cole and Fiona to shadow. One of these she recalls to be learned in astronomy, while the other is whom she appears to be supporting lately for the title of fearless leader. "Hey, Cole," she says to the former as she appears behind him, seemingly out of nowhere, having quietly snuck out to join the group heading out. "I heard you mention something about a satellite? Or not? What do you think this thing is? —" And then she's cut short, because he states what everyone else soon sees. She turns instead to offer a smile to the Tesla Three's beloved Social Justice Warrior.
Silas has his sword drawn and is resting the flat of the blade on his shoulder as he surveys the landing site. "Well shit…" he says, his brows rising somewhat with a blink. When Cole speaks up about the way it landed, Silas offers him a glance before he looks back down and over, quietly moving to try and make his way down and over towards the pod. Quinns mentioning of guns gets a quirked brow from Silas, but not much more as he steadily heads downwards.
Faolan has been chewing on meat as he walks, and what he isn't immediately consuming he has stuffed in his pockets for later munching. A bit of dirt and whatnot that might be attached in the process he can live with. "If there's even a chance someone is alive in there, we have to open it up right away," Faolan tells Cole. He hasn't drawn the Grounder sword he's got in a grounder sheathe on his back. He threads his way towards the pod. And rather sternly the big ex-cadet adds: "And nobody is fucking with whoever.. if anyone is in it. It might just be full of supplies, right?"
"Gonna be hot." Morgan cautions quickly as Cameron sets off. "Even if they sent us guns" yeah right, "they wouldn't have sent them loaded." Because that's just stupid. "So we should be just fine. Who're the physics people down here? Could someone have lived through that landing if someone was in it?"
Layla is tagging along behind Faolan, which is an admirable feat considering their difference in size. Once upon the hill, and able to view just what it was that had so captivated everyone's attention, Layla frowns slightly.
Smaller than she would have expected of any sort of back up or resupply, if indeed what Grey and Faolan had hoped for was in fact true. There's just a little, "Huh," voiced when he states there Shall Be No Fucking Withery.
Upon approach, the exact state of the pod becomes more apparent. It's trajectory was off — way off. It looks as if the nose of the pod is almost compacted inward, taking the brunt of the collision. The viewports — which have not seen much of the way of windex — are hard to see through unless someone presses their nose very close to them. The parachute flaps in an upcoming breeze, tossing around colors of blue and gold in the last vestiges of light.
"Yes, because handing guns to random people that can then /get/ ammo and blow shit to fucking hell is just as brilliant. How about we don't, and instead not shoot each other or ourselves." Quinn rolls her eyes just a bit, but she continues towards the pod, "And no one's fucking with anyone." Yet.
The hull is still warm, but not superheated anymore. It took the group some time to get here.
Cameron grunts, padding quickly towards the pad, "As if they'd decide to send us an escape pod with guns, now of all times, and as if the first thing we'd do is take a gun and shoot eachother with it." Cameron shakes his head slightly, "There's no figuring, we go open it up. That's an escape pod! Someone could be inside. They might need medical help. Or it might be supplies. Let's open it up and find out. Then we can decide what to do about what we find." He winces as the damage to the pod becomes more apparent, "Shit they aimed that for shit."
Morgan nods at Cole's answer and continues toward the pod with the rest of them. "So there could be someone alive. Yeah, see if it's safe to get close and if we can open the hatch. Though as bad as they could be, it beats the hell out of me what I could do for them except make things quicker."
Ruth doesn't show particular care in her haste to be in the front of the admittedly large group heading to see the pod. She's spry enough that it's manageable, her grip on the bag slung over her shoulder tight with anticipation. "Open it," she urges, brushing against Cassandra's shoulder on her way by. A slight scowl is spared the other girl, but she doesn't linger long enough to spare an insult as well. She only has eyes for Cole and that pod's door.
"Do I believe they did? No, but I'd rather be cautious than not." Quinn glances at Cameron, frowning at him, "And /anyone/ can accidentally discharge a weapon." She does NOT give Faolan a look at that. But only just barely. However the actual getting into it isn't something she even knows how to do.
Gnawing on his lower lip, Silas is quietly making his way down with careful steps. "Why all this about guns? We don't need guns as much as we need…" begins Silas, pausing as he mulls over just what could be inside before he lets out a breath. "Winter supplies, things that will get us through the oncoming seasons." he says, with furrowed brows as he continues to make his way downa nd over towards the pod. He quietly makes his way over and towards the pod, settling his feet down as he quietly looks over to Cole as he investigates the pod, looking over as he grips his sword rather tightly, turning his attention to the area around the crash-site, as if expecting this ti be all some elaborate grounder trap. It'd be a really elaborate one.
Cassandra hangs on to every word Cole says, nodding her head with a seemingly pensive expression pretending to understand exactly what he's talking about. She doesn't, really, at all, nor does she know why he's spitting or approve of unexplained crude behaviour. But it helps to pretend when you're around people who seem to know what they're talking about. "Hey, everyone," she barks out as the man approaches. "Back up and give Techie some breathing room to figure this shit out, yeah?" Conveniently, her move to take charge of the situation happens to position her second closes to the door. Ruth even gets a hand to the chest to forcefully push her back and out of the way.
Devin stands a little distance from the others as he looks at the pod, trying to see what he can. He leans against his spear, not sure what to expect at the moment as everyone draws closer to the pod. It doesn't take long for him to be overwhelmed by curiosity and he starts closer towards the pod, wanting to see what is inside. He remains silent as the others speak to each other, chewing on his lower lip.
Quinn's comment, even if she isn't looking at Faolan, makes him ball his hands into big and brutal looking fists with the knuckles whitening completely. Tension ripples through his frame, while he slowly breathes in and out. He falls utterly silent, just frowning at the pod. He shudders out a slow release of breath.
Having busied herself with updating the makeshift medbay, Evie was not really "present" in the celebrations beyond grabbing a bite to eat at about midday. Silent as the grave, she wanders along at the rear of the group, rising onto her tiptoes and craning her neck to see what in the hell has everyone so worked up. The words "pod", "escape pod", and every variation in between give her pause for a moment before she pushes her way forward following in the temporary wake left by Morgan. "Did they open it? Is there someone inside? What guns? Who has a gun? What in the—oof." She accidentally steps on the Morgan's heel, and it throws her off balance. She stumbles backwards, apologizing profusely while trying to shuffle to the side and out of the way.
Cameron reaches out tentatively to touch the pod, but stands a bit back, to let the mechanic types work on getting it actually open. "Yeah, winter uspplies would be /great/. Maybe some pain killers, or some seeds. Some seeds would be /really/ nice." He sounds almost eager.
"Alright, I need you people to step the fuck back while I fuckin work." Cole suddenly snaps outloud, noticing the hull is hot enough to burn his fingertips off. Getting out his tire iron, he uses his free hand to touch the small panel on the outside, pressing a button or two. "I mean it…this thing could fuckin depressurize and blow the goddamn door back at anyone standing in fucking from of it if it's damaged." he says over his shoulder. Which is why he's standing off the side. "Let's see…" there's some puttering, then a buzz. "Fuckin piece off…chinzy shit…" he mutters, hand grabing at the manual release. There's a strain, something clicks, but only budges a little bit. "Pissant!" he grunts, wacking the level with his tire iron. Somehow, because to every mechanic, the addage of 'if it doesn't work, hit it, seems to really apply. The pod door finishes it's depressurization and cycles open. "Ha, bitch. Can't beat me."
As Cole studies how to open the hatch, Morgan turns to look at the various people, blinking at Evie as she practically runs into him. Or does run into him. A heel counts. "Look, once he gets it open, if we see someone, just stay back and let me get in there to see if I can keep them alive. Assuming they are."
"Why would they send supplies at all now when they didn't bother sending fuck all at first?" Quinn shakes her head at that, then she glances at Cassandra, "You better hope that if someone is inside there they didn't get knocked stupid and come out all violent…you're a little close."
"Why would they send one person down in a pod all alone?" counters Cameron, not really arguing, just… He doesn't know. None of the suggestions seem to seem very likely as far as he's concerned.
Inside the escape pod is an adult clothed in a full zero-g suit with her head resting on the foreward console. Her head is turned outward so her face can be seen through the fiberglass of her visor. Her hair is dark and lightly salted with grey, and her eyes — open and staring in a dead-like trance — are a warm, almost chocolate brown and the crows feet at the corners suggest warmth and a lifetime of smiles. A deep rivulet of blood runs down her face, cutting along her forehead before following the leftside curve of her nose. Beyond her, the pod is completely empty.
Completely.
Empty.
Oh, no. Cassandra's push earns the other girl a harsh shove right back, Ruth's features momentarily taken over by a fierce frown. "Don't touch me," she spits, flipping her hair back behind her shoulders. Nevertheless, she does step a bit to the side much like Cole at his voiced warnings. "I could do that, too, if someone's in there," she tells Morgan, almost turning away from staring at the door to peer his way. "I'm skinnier than you. It's probably a tight fit in there." She also has nimble fingers, too. What they would be doing in that ship is anyone's guess.
"Seasons?" That's from Niner, as he glances to Silas. "Looks like summer here to me." He shrugs broad shoulders as he pauses near Devin. That /winter/ shit, it obviously happens somewhere else, right? Right. "See anything yet?" he asks Devin, as he straightens to look over the heads of the others. "Can't see shit from here," he grumbles.
Cameron's not moving a lot, he's scooting a bit, not crowding, but looking. He's a scout, scouts look! And when Cameron's eyes fall on the occupant, he comes to a rigid, sudden halt, his expression turning into pure, abject shock, and his face paling to nearly ghost white. He just stares. Completely unmoving, completely silent.
"They got rid of us. They probably can't afford to get rid of the useful people, so just one makes sense," Evie murmurs to Cameron, continuing to edge in closer step by step, even while Cole is fiddling and banging on the pod. She inhales sharply as the door opens, and leeeeans toward Cameron as if maybe he can protect her from whatever hideous beast might be inside. "What the…who is that?"
"We got someone here! Get a medic in here goddamnit!" Cole says, once being able to peek inside and get a look at what, or who is in the driver's seat.
Morgan doesn't bother arguing once he sees someone. He just starts moving toward the hatch, fully intending to go in. "Someone make a stretcher." he says.
"You want us," and by us Faolan means him, "to let you alone inside with one of the Arkers whom you'd rather just died?" He asks MOrgan with a slow shake of his head. "I don't think so. There are other meds who know what they're doing who also aren't planning guerrilla warfare when our people come down." With that he means to restrain Morgan physically. "Evie or LAyla can do the checking!"
"Seasons change everywhere." says Silas to Niner, offering him a shrug and a glance before he hears Coles warning. Silas grunts and moves to make some healthy distance between himself and the pod, taking up a position to look around and carefully watch. When he hears the depressurization of the door, he looks back and watches it open- his brows widening as he stares with purse lips, not able to see what's inside as he raises his voice, "What's in there?!" he asks, looking over and noticing Cameron’s rather obvious looking shock, his brows rising somewhat as he stares and purses is lips.
Devin takes a step forward as the hatch opens up, his head shaking as he looks towards Niner. "No. Can't see anything right now." He offers in reply to the other kid's question. As Cole calls out, he looks towards Niner again, a smirk on his face. "I guess it's a person. No supplies." He takes a deep breath. At Morgan's words, he nods his head. "On it." He calls out, motioning for Niner to come help. "Come on." He says, heading off to try to get together a makeshift stretcher.
Cassandra isn't afraid of Quinn's warning… but when Cole suggests that the door might blow and cause her serious injury, well, that's enough to convince her that maybe sneakily pushing her way to the front might be more risky than she'd realised. She's just about to back off a couple steps when an unseen hand suddenly shoves her out of nowhere, a hand that turns out to be attached to an arm, which turns out to be attached to the kleptomaniac known as Ruth. That's what you get for being too cocky to pay attention to the little people. And while she's out of the way, peering about behind the crowd and trying to figure out what that shove just caused her to miss, others are now mentioning the discovery of a human person. Damn it all.
Cameron's mouth moves, but sound doesn't actually come out in response to Evie's question. He sort of shakes his head, and is staring, staring *hard*. At first whatever he's trying to say doesn't seem to come out, as his throat has seized up, but he works his mouth and eventually, very, very quietly he whispers, "Mom?" This hangs in the air a moment, and then in a more normal voice he says, "Mom?!"
Quinn's not without empathy, much. But she doesn't know the person, and isn't a medic. So she just finds herself a place to wait it out, observing, "I would suggestion all non-essential personnel to back the fuck away. 'cause you're in the way of those that can help."
Morgan stops and turns his head to look at Faolan. "She's not a member of the Council." he says coldly. "Nor a Guard wannabe who'd eagerly Float someone for stealing medicine. Let go of my arm or you'll need them to check on you."
There's too many people. Too much shouting, and too many people trying to do too much at once. Fiona realizes there's only a limited amount of people listening to each othe, so she backs away from the cluster, seeing that she can be of little help. Instead, she turns half an eye toward the area in general to make sure others who aren't from the Ark aren't arriving.
Cole swings his head looking around inside. "Nothing else. Just the pilot." he says, backing up and letting whoever medic just happens to be here do their thing. He got the hard part done. But his eyes snap to Cameron. "Aw shit." he utters, not expecting that response out of someone there.
Evie surges forward right as Morgan does, but then hesitates when he takes the lead. She eyes Morgan and Faolan wide-eyed for a moment before turning her attention to other matters. Fine. A stretcher will do. "Anyone with jackets, take 'em off! Unless someone has a nice big stretch of fabric we can use." Already she has dropped her ever present pack and shrugs out of her jacket, looking around to see if anyone else is going to even bother to help. "And-slash-or grab some fallen tree limbs if you can see any."
Niner's following Devin nearly before the other kid's done beckoning him. Biggest. Shadow. Ever. "Parachute'll work," he suggests, jutting his chin toward the snarl of fabric and ropes snared between nearby trees.
"Use the parachute." Quinn suggests to Evie, hot on the heels of Niner's suggestion. Then she raises her voice, something she never does, "Unless you are actively helping, move the fuck away!"
"You could try," Faolan tells Morgan, meeting the med's eyes directly. "And it wouldn't go well for you." But then he hears Cameron, and.. He lets go. He was watching Morgan kiss the kid not that long ago, and he decides its unlikely he's going to murder his boyfriend's mother right here and now. With a grunt steps back to give space.
Lydia Scott looks dead, and her body is heavy if the kids start hauling her out. Her helmet — an ivory dome with the Pegasus constellation painted in blue stars on the back — looks a little worse for wear with a series of dents and a small crack from impact. She doesn't react to Cameron's words at first, but then something seems to click as her brain resurfaces. Her eyes flutter — her left more than her right — and she takes a wheezing inhale that draws in some of the blood at her lips. Her mouth moves as if saying something, but she cannot seem to get her voice to raise beyond inaudible.
Devin follows along with Niner to the parachute, pulling out one of his knives to cut the cords holding it to the pod. "We can use some spears for handles." He offers as he starts to cut into the cords, trying to work as quickly and efficiently as he can.
"Faolan get the fuck away from Morgan Morgan that's my MOM." Cameron's getting his words back, and they're coming out a bit as a rush, and jagged, and sorta like just edged with something akin to panic. With an urgency to his voice, too. He's not moving, he's not inching. He didn't really register Fao already was letting him go, cuz he's not seeing anything but a certain face with blood on it. A face that /moves/.
Morgan just stares at Faolan but then his brain replays what it heard while he wasn't listening. Mom? He spins and looks at Cameron then hurries forward, it suddenly becoming vital that he help the pilot.
There is far too much emotion near that pod door for Ruth to want to remain there. With the single glance inside her initial spot granted her, all she saw was an old lady she didn't recognize inside an otherwise empty ship. Talk about disappointment. She allows herself to be shepherded away from the hubbub, her sling having somehow made it to her grip with stone loaded and ready by the time she's on the fringes of the crowd. She watches the trees closely.
The jacket remains off, if only because the sleeves are a bit tight on her. Evie thumbs-up to both Devin and Quinn and pulls out her knife. Without further ado, she scuttles out of the crowd to circle behind the pod and follow the lines toward the parachute. Immediately she sets to work, spreading out beyond Devin to help cut the parachute free.
Ruth's vengeance and her cataclysmic tumble means that Cassandra can't see much, but she can still hear, and she hears Cameron's voice crying for his mummy. Well, not quite; it's more of a fateful, masculine whisper, but the conclusion this leads her to is more or less the same. She leans over to squint towards the pod, sees the apparent Ms. Scott is moving, and rises to her feet. With a glance over her shoulder, she soon turns to slip back into the night, quiet as she came, and back towards the Ark. She's learned all she needed to know.
And then come the words Mom. Silas looks over to Cameron with wide eyes as he jaw practically drops, staring for a moment or two before he looks to Evie as she shouts for jackets and tree limbs. Silas looks around for a moment and grabs a decently lengthy branch that was brute-forced off from the tree it was a part of and rushes over to pile it with whatever other supplies for the stretcher are. Everything seems to be happening pretty damn fast, and Silas is at a loss for words as everything goes down. He blinks, looking around for a moment before he grunts, "I-I'm going to keep watch!" he yells out to everyone doing their thing, moving to climb up and gain a vantage point and watch over everything going down in the landing zone and the surrounding area.
"Shitton of good ropes, too. Sweet. Here. Cut here." Niner pushes branches one way, stretches rope the other way, to give Devin a tensioned surface to cut. Raising his voice to a barking shout, he calls, "SOMEONE GET SOME STICKS OR SPEARS, WE GOT CLOTH FOR THE STRETCHER!"
Quinn moves up to Faolan's side, her arms crossing over her chest, "Faolan." She glances towards those that are backing away, and those that are getting the stretcher together. She then turns her attention back to those at the pod still, watching impassively now.
Devin quickly points to his spear nearby. "There's one there!" He calls out as he returns to cutting into the ropes, moving onto the next one as soon as he cuts onto the next. "Let's try to conserve as much of this rope as we can for future use." He says to the others helping him cut the parachute free. "Come on… come on… come on!" He says to the rope he's cutting, willing it to cut faster.
"Get that helmet off of her." Morgan instructs as he kneels next to the woman. "Quick!" Pause. "Carefully! Don't move her neck around." She might not have any air in there. But her neck might be broken. Asphyxiation first. He'll help get it off her but others are already right there to do it.
Cole gets the hell out of the way when people start doing their whole medical thing. Rather, he busies himself inspecting the /outside/ of the pod. Perhaps something will tell him what happened to it. What caused the crash. The internal computer will likely tell him if he can get it back online. But for the time being, he's going to wait until those have done what they need to do are done.
Cameron wants to go grab her hand, hug her, do something. He doesn't. He's close as he can be without causing trouble for Morgan, and so with his muscles locked like steel he watches, pale faced and freaking out, but reigning it in to absolute stillness, him and his silent tears. He'll move as soon as she gets out of the pod. He'll be able to do something then. Something. Something. He'll think of something to do. Besides stare at her.
Much like Silas, Ruth has found a relatively high spot that isn't in the low drop zone, sling swinging slowly by her side. Silas gets a side-glance, but little more. "Stop being so loud," she calls over to the large group, her own voice ringing in the clearing. "Do you WANT Hell to rain down?" Well, considering that's what some people call the Ark… yes, some of those scrambling at the pod might answer this question in the affirmative. "Be quiet!"
Morgan adds "Cam, give me your shirt."
"Fucking dull-ass blade," Evie grumbles loudly, stepping on the 'chute to apply tension as she saws frantically at the rope. "I could cut it faster with a fucking toothbrush." Oh, toothbrushes. Now she's going to miss being able to properly brush her teeth. With an inward groan, she finishes off her rope and races to the last. "I've got the last! Grab the branches and spears and set to on your side!"
Shirt. Cameron is taking his shirt off without a moment's hesitation. He has his shirt. He hands the shirt to Morgan— there's something robotic about his motions, as his mind is having difficulty coping, but he can follow instructions. Very carefully and purposefully. "Mom." He blinks again, urgency in his voice, "Mom, you're okay. You need to hold on. Mom, hold on. Hold on, Mom. Hold on." More words are coming to him.
Faolan looks sideways at Quinn, blinking. "Quinn," comes his fairly calm response. There's a touch of moroseness to it, an awareness of the emotional roller coaster that Cameron must be going through. He stays out of the way of people, turning occasionally to look across the perimeter. Now would be a bad time to be caught out by a group of Grounders come to investigate.
Layla has fallen into the background, watching the scene unfold before her as if they were all actors within a private play meant for her own enjoyment. She hears Niner calling for a stretcher, but hasn't anything on hand that would be very useful in that regard. So she remains where she is, not wanting to further crowd the pod.
Devin finishes with his last bit of the parachute and it's free. He moves over to gather up his spear and another one quickly. He moves them closer to the parachute to let Niner get to work on the construction of the stretcher. "What do you need me to do?" He asks as he kneels down nearby to hold the two spears in place.
Where'd the others go? What do you know, they did what he said. Morgan oh so carefully removes the helmet, just enough to break any seals so air can get in. He takes Cameron's shirt then after a pause, tosses it over Lydia's legs. "That's for later. Cam, want to help me here or should someone else?
Fiona is also one of those loitering as an audience. Until she makes a decision. "Morgan!" she calls out. "I'm going to run ahead back to the dropship. Tell me what you need ready and I'll make sure it is."
Catching the glance from Ruth, Silas eyes her back pursed lips as he glances down towards the pod and looks up and away, knuckles white around the grip of his sword as he looks around carefully. "Fuck, everyone in.. I don't even know how far would've heard that." remarks Silas through bared teeth to anyone nearby enough who bothered to listen. He quietly looks around, offering a few glances down towards the recovery work for Camerons mother before he keeps on watching.
"No one should go alone….go in at least a pair." Quinn speaks up when she overhears Fiona, apparently Cassandra gets a pass because she snuck off without a sound. "The noise and crash could have gotten the attention of anything out here."
Cameron is inside at the moment of invitation to help, like teleportation. More, a bit of an awkward and rushed scramble, but he doesn't remember being between spaces. He was hovering outside then he was inside right then ready to help like now. "Tell me what you need me to do." He sounds a little calm, but its not real.
Niner pulls more rope. Pushes more branches. Directs knives and ripping hands with a, "Here," and a, "No, wait- Yeah. There-" until the fabric comes free. Of course, this leaves him with a branch whipping back to slap him in the head, and the nearby tatters of the huge parachute to entangle him. "Yeah! Okay!" he calls — impossible to tell to /whom/, given he's currently doing a bad ghost impression, but he's presumably on his way to help with the stretcher. As soon as he finds his way out of all these ropes.
Morgan looks out the hatch at Fi then down to Cameron's mom. He has no idea what's wrong with her yet except for an obvious head wound. "Clear a spot in medbay and make sure there's room for her to lie comfortably. Make sure there's enough boiled water and sterilized bandages. Also, a supply of alcohol. Find the sharpest, pointiest knife and wash it off then put it in some alcohol to soak." he tells Fi.
"You shouldn't go alone," Faolan tells Fiona, echoing Quinn a moment later. He separates from the side of the other ex-cadet. "I'll run with you. You got this, Q?" Even if she's technically injured and all that.
"Yeah, I got this." Quinn replies with a nod, glancing towards Fiona, then back towards those making the stretcher, "Hurry up if you can…looks like they're going to be moving her, and she probably only needs to be moved the once."
Lydia is still in a nearly unconscious haze. Her eyes keep drooping behind the visor of the helmet only to have her brain snap them back open again. Her mouth keeps moving, almost reciting something over and over again.
Devin can't help but laugh at Niner as he gets tangled up in the parachute. He stands and moves to help the kid try to find his way out of the parachute. He tries to find the edge of the parachute so they can finally get the stretcher built.
That being taken care of, Morgan looks at Cam and nods. "Okay. Kneel behind her head and put your hands under the helmet. We'll slowly pull it toward you. As soon as I can slip a hand under a neck to steady her head, I'll do so and then you pull it off the rest of the way. Then get enough padding to put under her head so her neck doesn't bend."
"On it." Fiona looks over at Faolan, tilts her head in the direction of camp, and starts off at a jog. She's not going to try to run three miles full stop, but a steady, swift pace will be the way of it.
Not that Cole isn't sympathetic, but there's tech to touch and tweak, and inspect and finger around on. It's like a special treasure trove he's going to relish in. If he had a flag, he'd stick it on the pod. But with the moving of the body, he can only just watch. Organic mechanics, he's no good with.
The final rope snaps free, and Evie flops backward onto her butt for a moment to breathe. In and out - deep, calming breaths. "Okay!" she calls out, scrambling up onto her feet and turning to lift and waft the parachute in an attempt to free Niner. The damn thing is so big that has to drop her side and hurry around to the other, drawing up beside Devin as he backs out from under the parachute. She pants, leaning forward with her hands on her knees. "Holy crap. I am so out of shape. Tie ropes to spears. We're gonna have to roll the fabric up. This thing is too big otherwise." One hand pats around on the ground until she grasps not a spear but one of those fallen limbs offered by Silas.
Much to Cole's dismay, he's basically poking at a dead escape pod. Poor Cole…
Staring a moment, Cameron leans down, trying to listen to see if he can hear anything from her, because, it registers, his mom is talking to him. But Morgan has instructions, so he lifts his eyes and focuses on him. His eyes look a bit wild, but he's nodding, he's not shaking or anything, if anything his muscles are so tensed he barely moves without really thinking about it. So. He moves to where instructed, kneeling, and making ready to comply.
"Pike, do you have a bow or something like Zoe?" Ruth wonders, her sling pressed against her cheek as she frowns antsily. "If someone comes out of those trees, they'll be ambushing us. They'll have the advantage." She's no tactician, but that's pretty much common sense. She shifts her stance, squinting into the shadows as though she means to will something into existence. Better than this awful, nerve-wracking, noisy waiting. "They won't be as easy to strike down up close."
With a nod to Fiona, he lopes off, matching his pace to hers exactly as he files in by her side. Even if her strides are smaller than his. His eyes are determined, constantly looking around. On guard while they jog. "Guess there'll be no dancing tonight." But at least the food'll still be there. Food is the most important part, anyway. That and finding out why Cameron's mum arrived by pod.
"Motherfucking- how do you WALK in this shit-" Niner and underbrush are /not friends/. He stomps at the vegetation under his feet, kicking uselessly at resilient branches and shrubs as he thrashes his arms free of the looped ropes and cloth. Once he's free, his first view is a laughing Devin. "Yeah, yeah," he grumbles. "/You/ try and get out from under this shit." He relents into a momentary grin before he's stomping toward Evie and the others preparing the stretcher, pulling Devin along with. "You remember how to get back here, okay? We gotta save all this."
His last name gets his attention. Silas looks over to Ruth as he listens to her as she speaks up, offering a nod as his free hand comes over to retrieve the sling he made quite a while ago, putting the loop around his thumb and the knot in his hand, swinging the empty pouch around. "I've only got this… But I'm not the best with it." he says, looking over towards the tress around them with a nod. "As it stands, if we do get attacked- we're like throwing footballs at an airlock." he says, as he quietly 'sheaths' his blade and reaches down, taking a fairly decent sized rock and putting it into the pouch of his sling.
Devin tries to steady his heavy breathing as he looks to Evie, nodding in agreement about being out of shape. "I know how you feel. I'm going to start jogging after this." He says before he starts to roll up the parachute once Niner is freed from it. He nods his head in agreement with Niner. "We should keep some people here to guard the pod. Who knows what tech or equipment we can get out of this thing. Get a crew out here to strip this thing clean." He says to no one in particular.
"Once we get moving we'll want to move quick, but smooth…those that aren't strong enough to help carry I'd like for you to help me with keeping an eye open for anyone else that might have noticed." Just because Grounders are on the other side doesn't mean they aren't on this side. Quinn has become slightly paranoid since the last encounter. "Sound off if you're going to help me keep an eye out as we go."
"I'll keep back here," Ruth offers as her tongue darts out to meet her lower lip, glancing towards the pod and then towards the group with the older woman. She's not all that interested in the Arker, it seems. "What do you suggest we do, then?" she prompts Silas, ticking her brow up just a bit with a low-key smirk.
Evie offers Niner a cheeky grin as he stumbles back toward them, but is otherwise silent as she sets to work with the other two to secure the parachute to the branches with ropes. The whole contraption is makeshift, but it will do. "Roll 'em up," she reminds the men, gesturing to the handles that are being put into place. "Otherwise we'll end up dragging her along the ground. It needs to be taut." As for what to do with the dropship—it's outside of her purview. "This side is almost done. I'm going to work on the other." She flounces away to tend to the other end of the parachute so they can get the hell back to camp.
Silas stare at Ruth for a second or two as he's asked for a suggestion, wrinkling his nose somewhat as he lets his gaze survey the others securing the Arker and Quinn seeming to get things more organized before he looks back. "I don't know." he says with furrowed brows. "I… I wasn't exactly expecting this to happen, y'know? And I'm still new to this…" he begins, looking away from her and taking in the sight of the forest that's near them. "But if we're going to do anything, we're gonna need to get Cam's mom back to the Dropship- and /fast/." he adds, looking to Ruth with a matter of fact nod. "Because I think that means something has changed up there." he says, looking back down towards the pod.
Morgan nods to Cam and then they put the plan into action. The helmet slowly slides toward Cameron and as soon as they're room, Morgan slides his hands under Lydia's neck to support it in place. Then the helmet can come off completely and… something(s) put under her head to keep it in place.
Lydia gasps in a breath when the helmet comes off, but her exhale is a wet cough that sends droplets of red blood in a spray. She finally starts to look around her, eyes unfocused and moving slow. But then she sees Cameron, and her eyes immediately well-up with tears. "Cam…" Her voice wheezes a bit. "Cam…" She starts to smile a warm, motherly smile that would probably be a bit sweeter if not for the blood on her forehead and at her lips. Then her eyes start to move in a bit more frantically as if she is searching for something. "Where is…"
Niner looks back at the escape pod, too. So shiny. So full of secrets. Cole's already dismantling it with his eyes. There's going to be nothing left but regret by the time he gets a chance to inspect it. Evie's instructions bring his attention back to the stretcher, with a guilty blink — he was paying attention, honest! — and he says, "Uh? Oh, yeah. Yeah. Okay." He busies himself with finishing off 'his' side of the stretcher, and stays near one of the handholds to assist in the carry back to camp.
As they start to get the woman out of the pod, and ready for transportation back to the dropship she makes her way towards the pod. She is at least not climbing over anyone, but she's going to double-check the pod to make sure that there's nothing else in there. Maybe she's still holding out hope for a gun or two.
Devin helps where he can with finishing up the stretcher before moving to the other side of the stretcher from Niner. Once it's finished, he looks at the other kid before he nods. "Ready?" He asks, grabbing onto the other end of the makeshift stretcher, ready to take it over to carry Cameron's mom back to the camp.
"I'm sure we'll figure out what soon enough," Ruth notes, her grip on the sling just a bit more pronounced now as she swings it to and fro. "I… might actually head back." She gnaws on her lower lip, considering the treeline almost nervously. "I really don't want to be their guest again."
Sweating, but pleased to have done something useful, Evie is slow to sheathe her knife and amble over toward her discarded backpack. She slips her jacket the left strap of her pack as she heaves it onto her shoulders. Finding that nobody else could use her at this exact moment, she decides to walk beside Niner as he and Devin move the (rather heavy) stretcher closer to the pod to prepare for transport. "I can't tell if I'm jealous that his mom managed to find her way down here to him, or if I'm relieved that it isn't mine."
"Don't move, Mom." Cameron's voice is growing a bit haggered, helping hold her steady, "Let Morgan get you ready, and we'll carry you back to the camp. He'll fix you up, Mom. He's good at medicine. We have some medicine leaves." Sorta. When she starts wanting something, he looks to his shirt, and reaches a hand out with a gesture to ask Morgan to pass him his shirt. And whatever's under it, but he doesn't say anything about it. He's been paying more attention then it might have seemed obvious. "I got it, Mom."
Layla is tagging along, for now. Safety in numbers and all that. And, well, she also has some medical know-how.
Ruths nervousness is noted by Silas, who stares at her for a second or two before he follows her gaze to the treeline. "They said not to go along. You want me to tag along?" he asks, letting his sling sway somewhat from side to side as he offers a glance over his should to Cameron and then the others. "It looks like they've got things under control. And like I said, I'm kinda lousy with this." he says with a circular swing of his sling.
Lydia seems to be a woman on a mission. She doesn't seem to care about her neck or the fact that she is heavily wounded. "Cam," she says, her teeth blood-stained, "You need to tell them you are all alright… that you are okay… you need to tell them." She grasps for Cam's hand now, squeezing it hard as she does, showing that there's strength there. "Promise me."
Coughing up blood. Not good. Not good at all. Morgan gives Cam a worried look then 'Ssshhhhhhhs' Lydia. "Don't try to talk. You're hurt. But you're down safely. We'll get you back to our camp and take care of you." He gives Cam a small shake of his head. "We need to know what's wrong." Multiple meanings there. Not to mention he's supporting her head. What she says though makes him frown and look back at her.
Quinn's moved closer, and has been watching the proceedings for a while, and something finally catches her attention. When Cameron gestures towards his shirt she moves forward, a hand dropping to brush against her sword as she clears her throat, perhaps to give them a chance to share what she's spotted.
Devin sets the stretcher down next to Lydia, waiting for them to move her onto the stretcher, looking towards the woman as he waits then up to Cam. "She'll be okay." He offers to the kid. "Morgan's got this." He says, looking towards Morgan for a moment then to Cameron again.
"Is anyone else staying behind?" Ruth wonders to Silas, her lower lip still getting attacked by her teeth as she sidles closer to the other delinquent in order to speak more quietly. "Because, like, it looks like that pod is dead anyway. What could we use it for?" She's not that dense. They could probably use it for quite a lot… but they're out in the open with an object that fell quite loudly from space. Grounders have horses. "Is it worth it?"
Cameron eyes Morgan a moment, lookg at his hands holding his Mom's head, nods very slightly, then looks to Lydia. He brushes his hand along her hair, and a tear slips from his eyes, "I promise, Mom. What's going on —-up there? Why did you come? Why you?" His voice cracks halfway through the sentence, and there's a very slight tremble in his neck as the steel tension of his muscles begins to start cracking. "Mom, you have to stay with me so we can fix you up. Stay with me, Mom."
"Cam." Morgan says quietly. "She's hurt inside." Yeah, maybe she just but her tongue and that's why she's coughing blood. But if so, then wonderful news. Assuming the worst is definitely the safer course and he has to warn his friend. Hearing a clearing of the throat, he looks out the hatch at Quinn.
"The Ark," Lydia gasps through tight lungs, holding on to Cam's hand. "People… oxygen… dying." Her words are starting to slow and jumble. Then she seems to be growing limp and her eyes start to roll back as she slips into unconscious.
Niner loiters just outside of the escape pod's doors. It's already cheek-to-elbow in there, and he wouldn't help matters by squeezing in as well. Evie's comment earns her an odd little grimace from him, and a glance down at the pale and bloodied woman. "Mine wouldn't come down for me, anyhow," he finally says to her, jerking his shoulders in an abrupt shrug. He leans in around the hatch to watch Cameron try to communicate with his mother, and clears his throat before saying, "Okay. Let's get moving."
"I can't say if people are or aren't staying behind…" says Silas, looking back and over towards the pod and those near it. "The metal could be useful. Especially when we've potentially got a bunch of grounders on the war path." he says, looking to Quinn and spotting her hand moving to her sword. He furrows his brows, watching her but continues to talk. "There are also other materials in there as well, I'd think. And maybe anything Cam's mom brought down. But it's nothing we should risk everyone here for." he says, the last bit being his ultimatum. Silas quietly looks back to Ruth with a shrug. "That's what I think, anyways. Lives are more important than metal."
Cameron flinches slightly at Morgan's words, and finally catches Quinn trying to get his attention, "She's hurt inside." he parrots with a cracking tension in his voice, "Can we get her onto the stretcher now so we can get back and fix her." Because they can fix her. Right? He squeezes his mother's hand, and another tear slips from his eyes, "Hurry. We can talk about her radio later."
"Want to share with the class?" Quinn questions, her eyes flicking towards what she spotted, then back to Morgan and Cameron, then she catches hard on what Cameron says, "She brought a radio and you're trying to hide it from everyone else? Real fucking diplomatic there, Cameron. You talk all this shit about wanting to have this senate, be a republic, and here you are making decisions for everyone else."
Evie offers Niner an odd look but decides at the last moment not to follow up the conversation. She falls silent, glancing into the escape pod every now and then; what with the tight confines, there's nothing to see. She slips her thumbs behind her pack straps and nudges the dirt with the toe of a boot, but the comments flying back and forth draw her gaze upward. She squints at Quinn. "Hey, knock it off, guys. That's his fucking mom. Just let him worry about his mom, and whoever wants to stand around in the dark and ponder about tearing apart the pod can do so. Our job is to get her back to camp. Everyone else, just back the fuck off and let them get her clear. Then you can have it at like a bunch of animals."
"In the long run, that metal…" Quinn's outright mention of the radio has Ruth's eyes widening. "Or a radio? Those things might help us big-time." She squares her shoulders and looks to the treeline once more, her mouth thinned. "I'll stay." It's a good front. She looks as if she's about to bolt any minute, especially when a small furry two-headed rodent bounds in her sightline, but she keeps her ground. For now.
Morgan bites his lip at what Lydia says then looks over at Quinn. "Only because some people would immediately use it to call the Council." he counters. "We don't have enough information to make a decision." Or didn't. What she just said might count as enough. Maybe not. "We still need to get her back though. We can tilt her to one side while holding her neck. Can you slide the stretcher under her, Quinn?"
"/I/ didn't hide anything." Cameron's voice tilts to a dangerous edge, and then rise in pitch to a furious scream, "I don't want to deal with it distracting anyone RIGHT FUCKING NOW RIGHT HERE WHEN MY MOTHER IS DYING DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?!" And for the first time in his life, someone's seen him lose his cool and being /enraged/. His eyes are downright wild.
"Cameron!" Layla called out. "You can't lose control while your mother is in the state she's in," her voice is raised enough to be heard, but is calm in tone. So far, Cameron was one of the kids that Layla considered A-Okay. She didn't want to see him ganged up on while his very own mother died at his feet.
Those were the sort of wounds people did not come back from. "The radio can be discussed after the fact. I think we can all agree getting back to camp and tending to his mother is the priority."
Cole leans against the pod, near the hatch, waiting. Yeah, there's a lot of stuff in there's he looking for, one of them may be a radio. He will not get in anyone's way while they tend to Cameron's mother, but there's a reason he's sticking around. This is all tech, and he intends to strip it down and either use it for projects in the camp, or try to fix it. Hell, maybe even fix the pod enough so it could fly. But let's not get hasty here.
"But hiding it isn't the answer either." Quinn moves to push the stretcher under when asked, giving Cameron a look, "And your screaming helps how?" Apparently she simply figures if they are with it enough to hide it, they should be able to answer questions at the same time. "Devin…come get the radio."
Well, it's going to shit pretty quickly." Silas looks down and over towards Quinn and Cameron as he furrows his brows somewhat, watching and listening as he quietly lets his sling swing around and gain more momentum as he looks around. "Fuck- that isn't very good." he says, furrowing his brows before he lets the swinging and sling slow down. Cupping his open hand around his mouth, Silas calls to those still down there. "We don't have time to fight or a fucking radio when we could be ambushed at any moment!" he yells, furrowing his brows somewhat. "Get your shit together and lets go, we've got more to worry about than a radio- like people to save!" he says with a glare sent Quinns way before he moves to drop the rock from his sling and tuck it away and take out his sword.
Niner's attention /snaps/ toward Quinn. "Devin's helping carry. Get your own fucking radio if it's more important than someone's mom. Come ON. We need to move." He twists into the escape pod and crouches to start to lift the stretcher.
"Quinn, you shouldn't be doing this much physical activity! Quit it!" Ruth adds her voice to the clamor. Said clamor was a lot more welcome earlier in the evening when death wasn't so easy to picture. Can't they just go back to dancing to cool beats and eating top-notch ground snacks? Ruth appears to be mulling this over before she motions towards Silas' sword with her sling. "Going with them, then? If you're going, I'm going. I'm not standing around out here alone."
Devin continues to wait for Lydia to be loaded onto the stretcher, but looks to Quinn as she tells him to get the radio. He shrugs and starts to rise to get the radio until Niner snaps at her. He blinks looking around for a moment before he maneuvers to get himself in a good position before he lifts the stretcher. He looks to Quinn. "Just set the radio at her feet and we'll take it with us. I'll take care of it when we get back to the camp."
The look that Cameron turns on Quinn is bordering on naked hatred for a moment, his body shaking with fury but he reigns it in with an almost visible effort. With Layla and Silas and Niner saying things that he finds sensible, he clenches his eyes a moment and stills into that steel-like tension he was holding before. That's some kind of improvement, maybe. His voice still cracks a little, "Hold on there, Mom. Hold in. You need to hold on for Dad." A choke, cough, something, "And me. Hold on, Mom." And he waits for them to stretcher her.
"I haven't stopped anyone from doing shit." Quinn points out to Niner and Silas, "THEY hid the radio while tending to her, not me. I didn't stop them. So if you think this is taking too long it's not my fault." In fact, she hasn't even been in the way until someone asked her to help with the stretcher. "And I'd rather the radio be destroyed. But I'm letting the /group/ decide." She rolls her eyes, evidently everyone hating her or yelling at her for doing nothing but talking is even beginning to irritate her.
When Quinn slides the stretcher closer, Lydia can be carefully tilted onto her side so it can be slid under her with a minimum of jostling. After that it's mostly a job of arranging her limbs and cushioning her head with whatever leftover parachute or anything else they have. Quinn's declaration actually makes Morgan pause a moment to look at her. The former cadet wants to destroy the radio? "Okay, whoever's carrying the stretcher, go for it. Just slide her out the hatch carefully." Now he has his hands free, he picks up Cam's shirt and tosses it on the stretcher next to his mom where he can get it if he wants. And the he takes the radio from the mesh pocket on the outside of her leg. "I'll hang onto this for now. I'm not going to destroy it." Maybe that's for the benefit of everyone listening.
Niner's face is set in a stony mask, brows furrowed beneath shaggy hair, pale eyes bright with the effort to stamp down rising emotion. Bad time for a fight, Niner. Real bad time for a fight. "Someone go ahead of me and make sure I don't fucking trip," he mutters, gritted, as he starts to move the stretcher toward camp.
Cole isn't getting involed in whatever fight may or may not be brewing. Not his concern. The pod is. Eyes on the prize, buddy. Eyes on the prize.
"I didn't hide the radio." Cameron's voice is ice cold as he repeats his previous denial. He snatches his shirt, and slips it on without really thinking about it, walking sorta robotly, a slight tremble in his shoulders. He moves to take one corner of the stretcher and help carry, and otherwise, is all, like… Holding it together. Really, really, really very carefully.
Silas looks over to Ruth and offers a shrug. "I was just switching out because I was going to get a move on and begin cutting a way through the forest." he says, before nudging his head to the tree-line, "That way the ride will be smoother for the mom." he says, quietly looking back to listen to Quinn for a moment or two, staring at her with furrowed brows as she mentions destroying the radio before he looks away and moves to begin making his way into the tree-line, hacking away and branches and other stuff that gets in the way as he makes his way back towards the camp. "I'm just not gonna sit around and wait for the grounders to fuckin' kill me and sacrifice me to some pervy fat dude in the sky they worship." he grumbles as he does so.
Evie watches the group gather up Lydia, her expression stony, and marches ahead of Niner in order to lead the way back to camp. She scoops up a branch on her way, using it to prod the ground in front and check for potential trip points so they don't spill the poor woman out onto the ground. "This way," she calls out, eager to get away from the dark pod and back to their home.
Layla follows along, not having bothered to take up residence before Niner, if only because she wasn't that great of a scout and didn't want to trip herself. Privately, she was glad to be heading back to camp now.
Ruth doesn't carry around a knife, unfortunately, or she would likely help Silas' progress in a manner befitting the speed his sword allows him. She kicks aside branches from the path Silas makes, glancing behind her towards the other delinquents as they maneuver the stretcher.
Devin helps carry Lydia to the camp, letting Niner set the pace since he's the one in the lead. He looks down at the woman he's helping carry, a small frown on his face as his mind races. After a quick moment, he looks back up in front of him, ready to get back to camp.