Is it a Ghost Town?
Who: Brody and Owen
When: Morning
Where: Main Street
This? Was bizarre. Boarded up houses, opened businesses with no one inside. Brody had woken up with no electricity which had freaked him the fuck out given he needed light to get through the night. Sleeping in the dark? Was not an option. His desire to find out what happened and when it would get fixed led him nowhere. Because no one seemed to be around. The town hall was deserted. Even the police station. Brody wasn't sure if he was going insane or maybe he was just dreaming. But it felt real. And seeing the unoccupied houses that were boarded up invoked a sense of dread inside of his body. He knew how this shit worked. He'd been a part of it. This was too strange and too fucked up to not be the scientists. Which meant what exactly? Nothing good.
Brody walked down Main Street, trying in vain to spot someone - anyone. He wanted answers, and while he was sure whoever he found would be just as lost as he was, that didn't mean he wouldn't try.
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Owen had, as usual, gone for his customary walk in the morning. What was bizzare though was that the houses were all boarded up. It looked like a bad video game. He remembered his brother playing Silent Hill. It looked like that, which was freaking him right the hell out. He had no electricity, the stores, from what he could see, lay empty and abandoned. Although it WAS earlier in the morning so people might not be there, but -still-.
He'd never been more grateful for Clarkson's weight against his shoulder than right now. She had her head tucked against the underside of his jaw, as if she knew he really, really needed the contact. He felt like he was walking through some sort of dense fog, everything a little muffled as he got further and further down the street.
He supposed he'd been sheltered. He didn't have any indication as to how the scientists would treat other people only himself.He supressed a shudder at the thought of his house getting boarded up while he was still IN it, stomach doing a sick twist at the thought. He tried to quell the rising panic, instead heading towards the only other person he could see on the street.
"Hello?"
Brody paused at the call and turned to see a guy heading toward him. Hey! Human life for the win. Brody didn't hesitate to turn and start walking toward the guy, his hands comfortable in his pockets, but clenched into fists, just in case he needed to defend himself or something. It wouldn't be wise to trust anyone at this point. "Hey," he greeted loudly. "I think we've been abandoned."
Owen was glad the guy started to walk towards him, at least. The thought of being left alone right now was almost paralyzing. Swallowing and nodding, he had another look around, fiddling with the sleeves of his jacket, gloves firmly on, trying to keep his hands warm. It was damn cold and there was some sort of frost on the ground this morning. He'd lived in a semi-tropical area before, and he'd never really been this cold.
"I hope not." Owen said, shuffling and hunching his shoulders a little. Clarkson didn't like that much and let her displeasure known by smacking the back of his neck, so he tried to relax. He honestly was glad to be talking to someone else. "Is the rest of the town like this too?"
Brody nodded, glancing around him and feeling cold inside. "Yeah, from what I could see. A lot of businesses are open, but there's no one inside. Town Hall was deserted. Everything's... it's just us. I mean, you and me us but I don't think we're the only ones. I'm thinkin' maybe we weren't rescued after all. Or if we were, the fuckers figured we weren't worth it and took off."
Having what he was thinking spoken out loud like that was strangely terrifying. Swallowing, Owen nodded, looking around and trying to ignore the heavy twisting in his gut. "At least they didn't lock us in our houses." He said, trying to stave off a panic attack. He could feel one building, hunching his shoulders a little as he looked around. "Right? I mean, we can go outside. We could, I dunno. Take a car and some gas and get the fuck out. Maybe the volunteers are still here?"
"Maybe," Brody said with a nod. "I dunno. But they boarded up the empty houses, which makes me wonder if anyone else is coming in. If none are coming in, can we get out?" He wasn't trying to freak the guy out. Brody was trying to hold in his own sense of panic. I take it you weren't a volunteer then. Intern or participant?"
"I hope the houses were empty." He said, trying to supress a shudder. Clarkson was pushing at the back of his neck again so he shifted, reaching an arm back to yank his hood out of the way so she could clamber into it. He was starting to get himself under control, the heavy feeling in his chest settling down. "I-. Participant. Experiment C. I think that's what they called it, anyway."
He didn't want to think about being boarded up inside a house. At all. Maybe he'd take to sleeping outside. He was sure that he could get enough blankets from inside his house to make a tent or something and keep himself warm. "You?"
Brody hadn't even considered the possibility that some of the boarded up houses might not be empty. A few around his house had been when he'd been nosy enough to check. "I'm sure they were empty," Brody said, wanting to reassure the guy for some reason. "B. Ah... intern, actually." He winced, torn between wanting to apologize and brace himself for something violent. "I'm Brody."
Well, if the guy had checked... That was alright. Swallowing and nodding, Owen winced when Clarkson dug her talons into his back to get into his hood. He was used to people not noticing her by now, but how they could miss a giant, green parrot was beyond him. "Oh, okay."
The second he heard intern, however, he had to force himself not to flee. Not his experiment. This Brody guy didn't do anything to him. It was okay. Taking a deep breath, Owen nodded, looking at the other man for a moment before holding his hand out to shake, after making sure his glove was firmly on.
"I'm Owen. Nice to meet you, I guess."
"You guess?" Brody lifted a dark eyebrow and then smirked, chuckling a touch in his throat. "I'm not that scary, am I? I don't have a 'I'm about to bite you' look about me, right?" He could understand that he was an intern, and most participants weren't keen on interns, but given the situation, Brody was more of the mind to band together. Unity and shit. That would be the ideal situation, right?
"I-uh. Yeah." Great, and now he was putting his foot in it. Wrinkling his nose at himself, Owen pulled his hand back, tugging on the hem of the glove gently and swallowing. "Sorry. Uhm. No, you don't look like you're about to bite me. I don't think I'd taste that great, either." He said, shrugging and smiling a little. It was getting easier to ignore what was going on, as long as he concentrated on what Brody was saying.
"I don't think people who actually bite other people are too worried about the taste," Brody pointed out. "You're a lot more nervous now than you were a couple minutes ago." He could tell by Owen's body language. It was the word 'intern'. It tended to provoke that within people. "So what do you think we should do? Split up and look around? Stick together and find others?"
"Yeah, the prospect of whoever the hell was in charge dicking us around again tends to make me a little nervous." He said, more grateful than ever for Clarkson's weight at his back. Swallowing, he tried to stave off the second surge of panic. Split up? How about no.
"Uh, sticking together might be a good idea. Safety in numbers?" He said, almost phrasing it as a question. He felt about three feet shorter and ten years younger, and wasn't liking it at all. At least they were outside.
"Being nervous isn't gonna help anything," Brody pointed out, even though he was a little nervous. He could feel the urge to ramble on about something insignificant growing and he bit the inside of his cheek to keep it down. Brody lifted a hand and ran it through his messy, black hair before glancing around. "C'mon. We'll go see if we can't find more people... check a few more businesses and stuff. Maybe there's a logical, safe explanation for all this."
He could see the sensibility in not getting freaked out, but it was a close thing. He tried to pull himself under control, nodding and tugging at the arm of his glove again as he went to follow him. "Right, okay. Maybe it's uh, battening down for a storm or something."
Wow, that sounded really stupid. Honestly and utterly demented. Maybe he'd hit his head during the night.
Brody cocked an eyebrow in Owen's direction. "Yeah, maybe, but kind of a shitty thing to do, battening down and disappearing and leaving us here to weather it alone, you know? Or maybe this is just their way of reintroducing us into society. Maybe they're leaving to force us to take responsibility and do things on our own instead of depending on them." He shrugged. "All the businesses were left open. The electricity is off. How many people were hiding away in their homes and now we all have to get off our asses and put the town together again."
He contemplated that for a second, shoving his hands straight into the pockets of his jacket, having a quick look around. He felt nervous, but it wasn't like the whole anxiety thing rearing its ugly head. It was like he was waiting for the other shoe to drop.
"Your idea makes more sense." He said, swallowing and shifting a little uncomfortably at the way the other man was looking at him. "but it kinda falls apart if we don't have an electrician."
"There's gotta be someone who knows how to fix this shit," Brody replied. "And if there's not, maybe there's an Idiot's Guide on how to in the library." His idea made more sense and it made him feel better than to think they were just all abandoned there to perish. Of course, he'd seen first hand what panic did to people. He'd watched people die. He'd seen a man get murdered. If people started panicking and such because of their situation, things could get bad if no one stepped up to take control. Brody was so not that person. "Maybe it's just like a switch, or something."
Nodding in agreement, Owen scratched the inside of his arm before looking around. He hadn't been to the library yet, but he'd walked past it once or twice. "Maybe we should head there now," He said, frowning softly. Now that he had something to focus on, the panic was starting to receed. He was outside. He didn't have anything to be afraid of. Not yet.
"Because if there's books on that, maybe there's also books on other stuff we'll need to know, too. And if all else fails, we'll have a fuel source." He'd meant the last bit to come out light hearted, but it emerged a little flat. Feeling himself go red around the ears, he sighed, jamming his hands in his pockets.
Brody shifted direction toward the library. If that's where Owen wanted to go, that's where Brody would lead him. "What else do you think we need guides for?" Brody asked with the tiniest hint of a smile at the guy's joke. He had to keep reminding himself that a lot of the participants were paranoid and jumpy. Telling him to relax and take a few deep breaths might not go over very well.
Well, he didn't get growled at, so that was a first. He could feel Clarkson starting to move around in his hood so he adnusted it, reaching a hand back and stretching almost absently, following Brody's lead. At least someone knew what they were doing. "Uhm. MAybe on growing food and stuff? I mean, if we can get into the hardware store...didn't they have a gardening section?" He asked, tilting his head and shrugging. "Basic survival skills. That kinda stuff. I know I don't have any."
This time Brody did smile, because he couldn't help it. Chuckling softly in his throat, he looked at Owen again, wondering exactly what they did in his experiment. "I checked a few of the shops. All the supplies have been left there, so I think we're fine on food right now. I don't think we'll be growing crops and living Amish style for quite some time, so don't worry about that right now. I think what we need to do is find some people, figure out how to get the electricity on and see what the hell is up." His eyes grew intensely studious of Owen for a second. "You don't have any survival skills?"
Nodding in response to what Brody was saying, he smiled a little as the other man laughed. In his limited experience, people who were about to injure you didn't laugh at you, so.
"Sounds like a plan. At least if we figure out what's wrong with the electricity, we can keep the heating up." He said, frowning softly. Maybe they'd have to post a guard. Keep a rotation so nobody could turn the electricity off again.
"None whatsoever. City kid. My idea of camping is uh, coffee in the lobby of the ritz." He said with a crooked smile. His family had never been big on outdoorsy stuff.
"I can't even throw a proper punch now. I can kick the crap out of something if I have to, but I'm not really that strong right now." And it pained him to admit that he was useless. He didn't -like- being useless. It made him feel worse than worthless.
"what about you?"
"Me? I do okay for myself, I think. I'm not completely devoid of survival skills." He didn't do a lot of camping. Brody was not an outdoorsy kind of guy unless some kind of sexual activity was involved. He preferred electricity, gas heat and the warmth of a real bed. "I'm from Chicago," he explained. "I didn't do a lot of things there that required survival skills, to be honest. Unless you count school." He smirked a touch. "Though I think the best thing for you to do in this situation is to act like you've got the skills. Act like you can throw a punch and kick someone's ass... don't let them see you weak. They always prey on the weak ones. You look like you could be a tough guy. Best thing to do is pretend like you are."
"Urgh, don't even talk to me about school." Owen said with a slight smile. He hadn't really registered that Brody had an American accent aside from the odd "oh, an American" at the beginning, but now at least he could place where abouts in America it came from.
"The danger of that is believing your own press." He said, shrugging and looking aroun as they walked. He wasn't really looking foward to going into empty buildings, but if he had someone with him, it'd be okay. The only thing he was really terrified of right now was being alone. Everything else was hitting this numbing barrier. He must've set it up sometime, but he was grateful for it now. "I don't wanna piss someone off and get the shit kicked out of me. I-. But you're right, I guess. I mean, some of the people who came out of the other experiments scare the shit out of me, and I haven't even talked to them."
"You don't have to piss anyone off," Brody replied simply, reaching up to run his hand through his already messy hair. "Just don't let anyone push you around, or try to intimidate you. I think certain people zero in on the weak ones, you know? Easy targets. You don't actually have to be a badass, just project that you are one." Brody sighed, looking at the library they were coming upon. On his own street near his own house. "Have you seen anyone since we've been walking?" Brody hadn't, but he hadn't really been paying attention.
He nodded, feeling a little out of his depth. He had a hard enough time dealing with people. His social skills had gone right out the window in the time he'd been alone. "Right, okay." He said, wanting to assure Brody that he got it. He didn't want to piss the guy off.
At his question, he frowned, looking around a little more. He could see people off in the distance, but he wasn't sure who they were. He wasn't sure he wanted to, but at the same time, wanted to gather as many people as he possibly could into one big group so he didn't feel so damn scared of Brody leaving him alone. Clarkson pushed her head into the back of his neck, as if telling him off for being a jerk, and he nodded. "Uhm, some people down side streets but they seemed more interested in talking to each other, I guess."