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Kestra15

Rapture

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"I'm not so sure about needing them persay, unless it turns out they are intelligent and not just instinct-driven," Mak replied. "But I certainly don't think an interplanetary hunt is something that I would want to partake in even with flaming arrows - which is an option," he added, looking to Erin. "We don't even know how to Step ourselves, much less track them down. In terms of the Lopers I think we should keep as we were doing and defend ourselves, not actively track them down. But...it does raise a more pertinent question. Do we go looking for others?"

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"Depends on how likely we are to find others" Erin shrugged, "We had to go across three towns to find everyone here, and we've lost half of them over the past week. Even if we do manage to get in contact with anybody, what if they end up Stepping before we actually get to them? We need our fuel supply for the generator more than anything, we can't afford to go wasting it on searches we can't be sure won't amount to nothing.

 

"Besides, we still have that radio broadcast going, right?" she turned to Wisperlee, "If anybody out there can hear it, I say we let them come to us."

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Micah was very disappointed when everyone around him ignored his question and went on talking like they hadn't even heard him speak. Mak even asked the group if they should look for people, seeming to indicate that he hadn't been listening either. That more than anything made up Micah's mind for him, and taking a deep breath he spoke.

 

"You all can do whatever you want, but Hannah said that there were a whole group of people in the field with her that tried to Step to this world along with her, and I'm going to see if they made it. They probably weren't from this town, but I'll get a map and try to get to as many places as I can in walking distance before the sun sets. I'll take Alistair's car, he won't miss it. There should be enough places to refuel the car on the road, it's not like there are many people competing for supplies. If someone from this country would come with me, it would be a great help figuring out where to go, but if no one wants to I'll make do." Having finished saying his piece, Micah looked at the other people in the room, almost as if daring them to say something.

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"Even if they did figure out how to Step, it doesn't mean they made it here" Erin reminded him, "Hannah and Eugene ended up stranded on some ice planet the first time, and the people that did manage to make it here and back got pretty violently sick for it. I don't think it's worth the risk to our supplies to go looking for people who more likely than not won't even be there.

 

Besides, what happens if something even worse than the Lopers managed to make their way through?"

 

Micah's whole demeanor still made her big-sisterly instincts act up. The idea of him coming across some monster and getting torn in half made her nauseous with terror.

 

Of course, if it was James that went with him, then maybe he'd get caught in the crossfire, so that was something.

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Everyone was talking about searching for other people, or whether or not they could have even stepped here at all. Only Whisperlee has answered her at all.

 

"The noise," she said loudly before returning to a regular volume, "I was talking about is one of those CAT backhoes. If we set a perimeter, we can dig around it. A mote, but instead of water, spikes. Then, a fence around the inside. Rather than some draw bridge, we just leave one entrance undug and have a gate. If not a mote of spikes, a wall with guard towers. Or both! We need something to protect ourselves. The s**tty walls of this house won't protect us alone." Ez paused for a moment and pointed at Micah. "Think about this: If Jesus boy does find more people, wouldn't it be a great thing to tell them that we've got somewhere safe to bring them? It'll take time, but we've got the rest of our lives to think about here." Ez looked around, hoping that her words would have inspired some of them to agree with her.

 

Arwen nodded, but she was confused. A wall would keep them safe, right? She looked to Erin to figure out what to believe.

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"If they're hurt, then all the more reason to look for them. We may be able to help at least some of them, and if not, then at least they won't die alone," Micah told Erin firmly. "And Hannah made it sound like there were quite a few people in that clearing with her. Maybe an entire town, or most of one. I admit it's likely that some of them went to the wrong place, but with that many some of them had to get home safely."

 

Micah then turned to Ez. "Wouldn't bars and some chickenwire be enough? Or a wide moat, like in a zoo? Hannah didn't make these Lopers out to be all that intelligent, so I don't think we need to go to the trouble of putting up a full wall."

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Petra had been listening quietly to the story that Hannah had told. She had to physically take a grip on the furniture nearest to her to stop herself dashing out of the house when she learned that her boys were still alive, and that there was a slim possibility that they were waiting for her at home. As her hands locked in a white knuckle death grip on the back of a chair, conflicting emotions raced through her thoughts, the desire to get home as quickly as possible was counterbalanced by desire to learn all that she could from Hannah.

 

Eventually the poor woman became exhausted from the efforts of telling her story, and answering as best as she could the various questions that had been asked. At Mak’s urging they left the woman to sleep in peace and moved to the living room.

 

Petra was only half listening to the groups discussions, it was only when Micah mentioned that he intended to go looking for any people that may have successfully made the ‘slide’ back home that her mind fully focused on what was being said.

 

“Micah, if you like I will accompany you as far as village that you were originally staying at, after that I am going home to wait for my boys”.

 

She caught Mak’s eye, she did feel guilty at leaving the others, but she reasoned that they would also manage very well without her. “Sorry Mak I…..I have to go home. If there is even the remotest of possibilities that the boys have returned then I have to be there for them”.

 

“Would you mind if we took one of the walky-talkies with us? It would probably be prudent to keep in touch, and if Mak does find anyone then he can warn you of their arrival”.

 

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Emily struggled to concentrate on the conversation at hand. Her thoughts turned to her own family. They should be okay, right? They are natural survivors and hunters. She thought to herself. Been raised on a game farm should be a bit to their advantage.

 

Eventually her mind turned to the matter at hand. Some were talking about going looking for others. Some were talking about building up a defense around the house as a safe haven for those who have returned. But what worried her was what if they “stepped” without knowing it and end up in a bad situation like those on the other side.

 

“Listen before anyone goes off anywhere I would suggest that everyone should have an emergency bag with them at all times. A bag with basics stuff, for when any of us accidentally Step into these other worlds. A bag we keep on us every single minute of the day and night. I know it might be uncomfortable but we don’t really know what happens.”

 

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When Hannah continued her story James felt his thoughts start to muddle. There was so much to take in, so much to consider. At least three planets had somehow become linked together, perhaps more, and the inhabitants of each were leaking through. Maybe these Lopers were just as confused as the humans were, but maybe they were also related to what had caused this mess to begin with. Even if the Lopers turned out to be friendly, with three whole planets worth of creatures to consider, there was bound to be something that was just plain dangerous. This whole nightmare had turned into one gigantic cluster censorkip.gif.

 

When Erin suggested to Arwen that maybe her parents might return, James had to bite down hard on his tongue. He thought getting the kid's hopes up was a damn foolish thing to do, but this wasn't the time to discuss parenting techniques. Besides how the kid felt was none of his business.

 

It was only when the group started to discuss looking for other people that James felt that he really had to speak up. Monsters from other worlds wasn't their only problem.

 

"Look, I get that everyone wants to go and find their families, I got two brothers of my own, but I think we need to be real careful about just who we invite back here. Things have gone to censorkip.gif, and in these kinds of situations there is always someone who will take advantage or back stab others for their own gain. We need to lay down some rules here."

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Erin snickered a little at Ez's referring to Micah as "Jesus boy" in spite of herself. He'd definitely flip out about it, but dammit, it was funny.

 

"I'd go with barbed wire myself" she suggested at Micah's bars-and-wire idea, "I still kinda want those things to bleed. Besides, there's still other, smaller annoyances wandering around out there along with them."

 

Wait, Petra was going off on her own?!

 

"Are you nuts?!" she squawked at her, "Sorry, I'm not trying to be mean, I know how moms can turn almost superhuman when it comes to their kids, but I'm still not sure how well you or anyone else would hold up in a fight with a Loper without some kind of body armor."

 

She nodded in agreement at Emily's emergency bag idea; Finally, a good use for her suitcase again.

 

She raised an eyebrow at James' warning about dangerous con-artists; kinda sounded like him to a T.

 

"Wouldn't people like that be more interested in drawing people to them, rather than going to someone else?" she asked, "Make themselves look like the ones with the answers, consolidate their power, yada yada yada?"

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“Not necessarily “ said James. “We might get people who come over just to check out our supplies or test our defences. If we have something they want, they might try and take it. We’ve just started settling down here and have no proper defences. Nobody is going to want to play by the rules anymore, even if every single person who vanished popped back within the next hour, the world is a mess. People are going to be out for themselves and it’ll be a long time before any sort of order is reinstalled. We are going to need to decide, are we going to risk everyone here and help anyone who wanders over, or are we going to make the hard choice and put our people first?”

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"Ours first" Erin raised one finger before gesturing at Arwen, "We have a small child here. Anyone who comes around not calling for her can keep walking. We should give them supplies if we can, but they can't stay if they can stand."

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For Mak, an orphaned child with no foster-family and no close friends, there was no reason for him to go looking for others, and it was difficult for him to envisage a reason to risk travelling out into the unknown - this world or another - to look for family. Then again he could remember the deep unrest he felt when Wisperlee and Petra had left on their jaunt the other day, and if what he felt was even a tenth the power of the pull of family then perhaps he could see why others would take that risk.

 

"Micah, I don't want you to go out there alone," he urged the American man, concern colouring his voice. "Or you Petra, any of you for that matter. Now we know what's going on I think it's more important than ever to stick together - and I think Emily's got it right. We should all have an emergency supply with us - food, clothes, a weapon perhaps, in case any of us Slides away or learns how to Step unexpectedly. And if we're going to go out searching for people I think safety in numbers is the way forward - not splitting down into smaller and smaller units. Whatever those Lopers are they're big enough to easily take down a group of people by the sounds of it. Unarmed admittedly, but they're clearly not scared of us.

 

"As for fortifying ourselves," he said, turning now to Ez. The hint of a smile played at his lips. "We're in England; if we want a fort, there's plenty of them to choose from." The humour was short-lived though, and the familiar look of permanent, faint concern returned to Mak's face. "If these creatures can cross between worlds, a moat isn't going to do much more good then these walls. But I do agree with you and James in that we need to make sure that if we're working out of this place it needs to be secured as best we can. Or we could always relocate in a day or two to a nearby farmhouse - they're already off the roads and have fencing around their immediate perimeters, so it would be easier to strength those barriers and also we'd be less obvious to road-only travellers. I do think we should look after ourselves first and foremost, but I don't feel I could turn away anyone who comes to our doors just yet if only out of paranoia."

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Erin rolled her eyes at Mak's joke in a good-natured way. Still, moving to a farmhouse sounded like a good idea. Although she shuddered to think of what shape any animals there would be in.

 

"Maybe we should move to a farmhouse" she agreed, "If nothing else, it might put a little more space between us and the Lopers if they come at us."

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James thought back to the large cat he and Emily had faced during their last 'farm visit'. It wasn't something he wanted to re-experience. And a large number of animals could draw more predators their way.

 

"Wouldn't something like a miltary base be more easily defendable? They also tend to be set off road and way from other buildings. Plus they would have supplies and back up generators of their own we could use. I think there is a RAF station nearby.""

Edited by Fortune86

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“As much as I like the idea of the farm house I don’t it would be such a good idea. Especially with what happened to me and James the other day. Wild animals will be drawn to the farms now and trust me you don’t want to get in the way when they set up territory.” Emily spoke as she herself recalled that day at the farm.

 

“I think finding a place with a decent wall between us and the creatures out there should be considered. But I also think we should have a back-up place where we can stay if stuff go wrong and need a safe haven for a bit.”

 

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"Two concerns about military bases; firstly, it's an obvious first option and if someone has already taken that option they'll now be the ones holding the firepower to see us off," Mak replied. "We've already considered the question of being open or guarded with visitors, and who is to say another group hasn't already chosen the more xenophobic option? Especially if they've been under attack by Lopers or the other little monkey-things. Second; they're large areas to cover and guard with so few of us. I doubt we'd be able to hold any sort of meaningful perimeter, and if something or someone did breach it would be as difficult as holding down this place - or worse."

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James had to weigh his options before answering Mak's concerns. The group hadn't exactly sat down at any point and had a show and tell, so no one know he was a criminal or that he had a few tricks up his sleeve. Theo had always insisted there were certain things all three of the brothers should know, though James had never foreseen a situation where they would come in handy. What a hell of a way to get proved wrong.

 

"I can scout out a few places" he suggested. "If no one has beaten us to it, we can check them out and decide if they are defendable. If there are people there, I can be in and out and no one will be any the wiser. And we'd know about any possible unfriendly neighbours to boot."

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The thought o+f Ez's family members showing up wasn't a good one to her. Maybe her siblings could finally be free, but that was doubtful. She held a bitter expression on her face from the thought, and listened.

 

Arwen smiled and whimpered at the same time when they talked about her or her parents. She was scared, but she didn't want to be a burden on this big group of people who wanted to take care of her. Since James was near her, she hugged onto his leg for comfort.

 

"I can go with James. My job required similar skills." Ez finally said. Her idea for protection was shot down and she was unhappy, so she kept quiet until she found a lull to take advantage of. "Oh, and if the Lopers are as confused about their 'stepping' as we are about ours, than I doubt they'd use it to their advantage to get into our base. Any that accidentally find their way in can be taken care of." She looked directly at Micah. "No matter where we go, chicken wire isn't going to keep out something that wants in." Arwen turned her face against James' pants and whimpered. "I don't want to scare Arwen, I want you guys to understand. There are animals form our world that would hurt us, not just the ones from far away. Bears, big cats, wolves. A wall would keep them out. Not a huge wall, but bigger than some cattle fence." She sighed. "Building off of the cattle fence would be a good idea though." As far as going off to find their families or adding people to the group, she figured they already had enough opinions and she'd done too much talking already.

 

Arwen was screaming on the inside. She wanted her mummy and her papa back. If they were alive, they would take her away and they would be safe and happy again. She just wanted to be with them.

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Micah looked at Petra. "You're more than welcome to come with me, but I don't know when I'll get to that town. I will get there eventually, but I want to check the places where the people Hannah was with might have gotten to first and I don't know how long that'll take, especially since I don't know the area."

 

Before she could respond, Mak spoke up again, voicing his disapproval for going out and looking for more people, and everyone started up with ideas for places to move and how to solidify their defenses. "I still think it would be a good idea to get more people - there are only seven of us, eight if Petra changes her mind about staying, but whatever, it's not a big deal yet. I am still going back to that town where you found me to check up on my sister, though, and I'm bringing her back here if she's found her way back and is in any shape to travel. Petra's free to come if she still wants." Family meant a lot to Micah. In the end, the only reason he wasn't rushing back to his family's house now that he had a reason to believe they might be there was because they were an ocean and half a continent's walk away.

 

Turning to the others, Micah then said, "You know, Mak made a good point. Why don't we go to an actual fort or castle? Those places kept both human and animal invaders out for centuries, and I think it's better to pick the safest place possible now instead of continually upgrade each time something worse comes along. I'm sure quite a few of them must have been updated for the modern era, for the tourist industry if nothing else. And they'd probably have a lot of space."

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Erin raised an eyebrow at James' leg when Arwen hugged it. If he kicked her like she expected him to, she wouldn't be held responsible for what she did.

 

"Are there any castles around here?" she asked, "I'm not exactly familiar with the area."

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James looked down when the Peanut took hold of his trousers and clamped herself to his leg. He frowned, wondering why of all the people in the room she chose to try and seek comfort from him. Shifting his weight to his free foot he lifted the other slightly and tried to gently shake her off. Without looking up he answered Erin's question.

 

"I think there are a few, but most will be ruins. We don't want to set up shop anywhere that has several walls missing."

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"There's a few castles but mostly part-ruined and for show, but there's churches, cathedrals, manor houses...if there's one thing the English were good at, it was building fortified accommodation," Mak said in answer to Erin's question. "And I think any fortification will be of little use against Lopers if they can Step with any form of control. But even if they can Step, I think we may be able to see them coming. Literally."

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"Don't some of the older churches have attached living for the monks and nuns?" Erin asked, "Might be nice to have our own rooms.

 

"Arwen" she said to get her attention, then tilted her head in a 'come here' gesture. She didn't trust the way James was shifting his leg...

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"Well, we don't know if they can yet, and I think stone walls are better than wooden or brick ones," Micah said firmly, glad the others were taking his idea seriously. "And the Lopers might not be the only thing we have to worry about, at least in the long term. If worse comes to worse, we can set up some traps." Micah's hand patted Alistair's Browning stuffed discreetly in the back of his pants, that he had still had on him when the other man vanished. He was glad to have it, but he would have to find something to reload it with soon - Micah had already fired three shots, and if things continued the way they had been, he'd probably have cause to use the others soon.

 

"I think a manor house would probably have enough room for all of us as we stand right now," Micah told Erin. He didn't like the idea of living in a church or cathedral, it seemed sacreligious. On the other hand, if circumstances got dire enough . . . "On the other hand, I think those churches generally had room for gardening on the grounds, and wells for fresh water. That could come in handy."

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