Intern to Intern

Who: Cheryl and Chris
When: Morning
Where: Grocery store

The night had been a tough one. It helped knowing that Drew and Jeremy were so close in proximity to her, but being alone had been difficult once the lights went out. She had posted a short journal before bed, opened her windows and kept her bedroom door open so she could see out into the living room. None of it had really helped. She didn't sleep well - every creak and groan of the house had woken her up with her heart racing. She had expected to see someone in her house, or at her window. She had expected to wake up back in that room.

Cheryl hadn't really felt better until the sun started peeking over the horizon. After a long shower, she'd changed and debated going to see Jeremy. But she was struggling with not imposing herself upon him or Drew so much - as badly as she wanted to - so Cheryl set off on foot outside to check out the town on her own. She had been so distracted by having her friends back the day before, Cheryl hadn't really seen much of anything but them.

With everything she had been given to survive off of until she was sent home, she figured some groceries might benefit her. Just a few things to see if she could get back into the habit of cooking her own meals. Really fattening, calorie-induced meals. Her portions while in the institution had been sparse and she honestly never wanted to see lumpy mashed potatoes or meat loaf ever again. She wanted steak, and ice cream and potato chips. With a deep breath, Cheryl took to walking down the streets alone. A part of her felt like someone would see her, recognize her, and want to hurt her. But she was just as much a victim as the participants, wasn't she? Maybe everyone could just live together in this place and deal with it the best they could - without violence. Or maybe that was just wishful thinking.

It was several blocks from her house to the grocery store, but she loved it. She loved being able to walk far and wide and stretch her legs. There wasn't that enclosed feeling suffocating her and Cheryl inhaled the fresh air with a small, almost tentative smile. Walking into the grocery store, she grabbed a small basket and began to wander around. It was convenient that money had been deposited for her - for all of them supposedly. Hopefully it would last for awhile.

Chris was in a foul mood this morning - his face had been swelling when he'd gone to bed last night and sleep hadn't improved matters. he had a nice big shiner come morning, a perfect black eye, left since the bitch had a decent right hook. And he had bruises over his ribs as well. Shoot the fucking messenger and all. He'd headed for the grocery store after seeing the shit they'd stocked his cupboards with. Fuckers. The world was just a bad place today as he stalked the isles, turning the corner and heading towards the cereals.

Cheryl happened to be in the cereal aisle, studying each box with her lip pulled between her teeth. Six months without having to make any decisions whatsoever and here she was flailing over what cereal box to choose. Frosted, marshmellows, bran, chocolate... Were all future decisions going to be this difficult? Cheryl caught movement out of the corner of her eye and as it seemed to consistently happen now, she tensed. Releasing a breath, she looked over to get a better glimpse of the guy. Her gaze zeroed in immediately on the black eye before it clicked that the rest of the face was familiar to her. And then then flailing began again because she didn't know whether to turn and run away, or say hello. He might not ever remember her, but how many interns hadn't heard about her screaming mental breakdown? Not to mention that even now she remembered him. She remembered all the interns she had worked beside. She just wasn't quite sure what to make of any of them other than Drew and Jeremy. Eyes wide, Cheryl snapped them back to the cereal boxes, ducking her face a bit behind her hair as she tried to decide what to do.

Chris had spotted her immediately - and with her, an easy target, something to take his annoyance out on. he headed straight over, giving the girl a smile. "Cheryl," he almost drawled, stopping right before her. "So - what happened to you then? You disappeared without a trace - I'd figured you'd quit."

Well, that took care of that indecision. Cheryl looked up at him with a faint smile, her fingers tightening around the handles of her shopping basket. "Hi, Chris." There was the slightest flash in her eyes at his question but she kept a calm expression. She figured she would be getting a similar question from people she had once known as she ran into them in town and she just had to get used to it. "No, I didn't quit. I doubt it would have been easy to do so. I was transferred." And that was all he needed to know about that. "When did you get here?"

"A couple of days ago," Chris told her. "Where were you transferred to?" he asked her, frowning slightly, cocking his head to the side with apparent concern. "We were all worried about you," he added. "You and Jeremy both - especially when Drew turned up in the experiment." And there he was again, using names. He hadn't actually uttered Drew's name since that fateful day he'd seen him on camera. But it was required here, even if it felt alien.

Her eyes ticked to his and she stared at him for a moment, realizing that yes, Chris and the others would have seen Drew in that house with all of the other participants. They would have seen him endure everything - and they probably would have had a hand in it too. That sparked a bit of anger inside of her, but she kept her voice when she spoke. "Jeremy's here too. He was placed in one of the other experiments," she explained. "I was... I don't know. Somewhere." Supposed mental institution made her sound crazy. Or like she had been crazy. Maybe she had been. Cheryl still wasn't exactly sure what had happened to her. Her voice cooled as her posture stiffened a bit. "Were you worried about Drew too? Or did just ignore the fact that he was someone you worked beside for several months when you were going into the house to set up things that would potentially harm him?"

"Course we were worried," Chris said, quickly - we were all worried. All of us. But you guys disappeared, then Drew turned up in the fucking house... And then we were just scared. That it would be one of us next. It got very quiet after you guys went. Really, really quiet," he added, his voice dropping.

Cheryl studied his face, unsure of whether or not to believe him. She had no reason not to believe him, because she could understand the fear of not knowing what happened to people you knew, whether through work, or friendship. The tension and temper rising inside of her dulled. "You should have helped him somehow," Cheryl said weakly. She knew that there was no way they would have been able to. The scientists would have caught on, the way they had with her, Drew and Jeremy. But it still felt important to say. She would have tried to help if she had been in the position to. "I guess now it doesn't really matter, since we're all here and alive. I don't really know what to think about all of this. But it's comforting, I guess, seeing people I know."

"How do you know I didn't?" Chris asked her. He hadn't, of course, but she seemed to be assuming that he hadn't without being told as such.

"Did you?" Cheryl shot back, the line between her brows deepening. No one had helped her. Then again, no one had known what happened to her, and it wasn't fair to blame him, or anyone else. But then again, Cheryl had to remind herself that this wasn't about her - it was about Drew.

"We all did what we could," Chris told her. "We weren't told anything - the first thing we knew was that he was down there. None of us were involved with putting him in there in the first place. All we knew was that interns were disappearing. It doesn't inspire rebellion, you know? Maybe - if you'd all ended up down there. Even with everything. But for all we knew you and Jeremy had just gone - you could have been dead."

"It should have inspired rebellion," Cheryl countered, turning to face him fully now. "We saw what was really happening to those people, and we got fed up with it. Drew and Jeremy and I? We tried to help them." It failed miserably of course, but that was beside the point. "Just because you were afraid... you should have still tried. What if those people have tried to hurt Drew? Or tried to kill him? Would you have been able to just sit there and watch on your monitor without doing a thing to help? I don't..." She shook her head and released a sharp breath. She didn't want to cause a scene in the middle of the store. "It just doesn't matter now. Never mind. I don't mean to get angry with you. All three of us are okay, so that's what matters. I can't say the same about everyone who was involved, but I guess that's something we have to learn to deal with." Her eyes shifted to his black eye briefly. "But it looks like someone else didn't mind getting angry with you."

"You weren't there - you don't know what it was like after you went," Chris shot back, loving the chance to raise his voice, attracting the attention of others in the store. It was a rush. "Maybe we should have done something - or maybe that would have got us all killed the way we thought that you were. Retrospect is a wonderful thing. And yeah, someone else got mad. And that wasn't deserved either. Not that anyone seems to give a damn."

"I know what it was like for me after I was taken away. And now I know what happened to Jeremy and Drew. I know people could see them - interns just like us. I don't know if anyone could see me but I know no one came to help me for almost six months." Cheryl inhaled sharply, realizing her voice was raising as well. She glanced around her, slightly embarrassed before her eyes ticked back to Chris's face. "Whoever hit you probably felt it was deserved, whether or not it was. As for people not giving a damn, well, they're all dealing with their own problems right now, aren't they? So you got a black eye. Most of the people who were placed in this town to readjust had to go through a lot worse than a bruise."

"I didn't mean a damn about a bruise - I meant a damn about whether I'd actually done anything to deserve it or not," Chris pointed out. "You should watch that - some people just hear 'intern' and start swinging," he warned her.

That was what she had been afraid of, really. She was reluctant to tell anyone she didn't know that she had been an intern. Just because the people in Drew's house hadn't done anything overly terrible to him didn't mean people from the other experiments wouldn't. Cheryl swallowed before lifting her chin. "If they want to take a swing at me, so be it. I'm sure I probably deserve it, but I did try to help and got caught. It's not like I sat in front of those monitors and enjoyed myself."

"Well, I hope that people leave you long enough for you to be able to explain that," Chris told her grabbing a random box of cereal off the shelf and turning away.

She glowered at his back and snatched her own box of cereal of the shelf before turning in the opposite direction. "You probably deserved it," she mumbled to him under her breath. It wasn't so much that she was angry with him, it was that he was voicing her concerns aloud which only made them sharpen a bit inside of her. She wanted to believe that there would be no trouble, that she could go wherever she wanted without fear, but maybe that wouldn't be the case.

Chris carried on walking away from her, smiling a little to himself as he turned the corner. He had to wonder if he'd managed to hit a nerve there - he was sure that he had. That had to be worrying her, right? Of course - she was only human, after all.