come_sailaway | AUGUST EVENT PART TWO: GIL'S ALL-FRIGHT DINER

AUGUST EVENT PART TWO: GIL'S ALL-FRIGHT DINER

[someone has to be the first to notice.

is it someone on the ship? who passed through the metal detector, only to find themselves still standing on deck zero; who watched Friday freeze up suddenly before fleeing from the room, hands wringing together?

or is it someone in the diner? who opens the portal door to find that it's now a real closet? who notices that the clone Friday has disappeared completely, along with every native vehicle? someone has to notice it first, and then spread it through the crowd like contagion. who's first?

it doesn't matter. all communication has been cut off. all access has been blocked. for now, on both sides of the portal, the passengers are on their own.

for now.

the sun has disappeared over the horizon. the beginning of stars in purple skies. and everything is completely silent.

for now.]

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[Natsuno spots Jade shortly after he and Rita exit the diner. Night vision sure is handy now.]

There's Jade. [And he just grabs Rita by the wrist and all but run to flag the Trusted Adult down.]

[Rita's squinting as they step into the dark night outside the diner, before Natsuno's practically dragging her towards--oh, did he say Jade?]

You spotted him that fast?

[She sounds impressed, since she can barely make out anything but a human-shaped person until they get a bit closer, but she's calling out for him anyway.]

Hey! Let's get the hell out of here!

[Yep, here Jade sure is...! (Freshly dropped-off by a very sweet ride courtesy of Max and Ava, as silver linings go--) Not being gifted with night vision himself, either, it takes a moment or so to recognize the silhouettes who come out the front of the diner in turn--until they're speeding up in approach, and a familiar voice is calling out, alongside familiar faces growing visible in the gloom.

Simultaneously, there's relief to see them intact--but dismay, to see they're still here. Ah, although, they had probably collectively put together some sort of agreement to move in and out of this excursion approximately together, in the previous days...

Well, either way, Jade's still smiling cheerily at both of them across the way anyhow.]

That'd probably be ideal, wouldn't it? I assume something's changed! ...But there must be something wrong with the closet, I take it...

[Because he'd honestly be more surprised if it were functioning, about now. Assuming the worst, you know...!]

Night vision, [He tells Rita. You know, just another supernatural ability he never bothered to mention.

Jade is smiling obnoxiously. It's not reassuring, but helps Natsuno feel like things didn't go to hell just yet.]

Portal's gone, so is the Friday. Previous deaths happened in the parking lot. We need to get away.

[He's still holding Rita's hand, by the way.]

...Huh.

[Yeah, that's new, but--quite handy, actually. And luckily there doesn't seem to be anything amiss with Jade, even if the situation is still...exactly as Natsuno explains.

...He hasn't let go of her hand. If he has night vision, he shouldn't need to worry over losing them that much! Then again...it's not like she can blame him, after he's the only one who survived the island...

She's just going to take a sip of her milkshake before asking Jade like everything isn't going to hell-]

Did you notice anything else out there?

[There's some kind of impending event in the air, of course, and despite outward obnoxiously cheery appearances half of Jade's thoughts are currently running a mile a minute, rifling through every way things here could go horribly wrong in the next hour or so. There are...far too many possibilities, honestly, sufficient enough to twist a knot of tension somewhere in the chest.

...And yet, even despite this thorough kind of distraction. Jade does find himself very vaguely noticing the way Natsuno's still holding Rita's hand, too? An odd sight on account of how very prickly and not touchy-feely Natsuno tends to be on a general basis, and all...huh.

Well, no time to form an actual opinion on this, or even a sardonically teasing comment aloud. (Still, it's a notion stowed away for some time far later, when there isn't something terrible inexorably bearing down on them all--)]

There appears to be some kind of front, closing in from the distance. Clouds, possibly--could be dust, could be a storm...I'm not certain. Nothing that bodes well, I'm sure. [Jade's attention moves from Rita to Natsuno, and his suggestion.] If it's headed this way--which I suspect it is--I'm not actually confident that moving away from shelter is the better option...though I don't care for those trace deaths in the parking lot either. ...Perhaps a midway point, in the coverage of a vehicle... [Well, the weathered frame of Rover 1 is certainly popping to mind, about now.] Where is Clarke, have either of you seen her? Was she still here?

[Look, after you stumble upon your friend's murder scene and treated to detailed reels of the entire bloody affair, it's only natural to want to stick together next. Natsuno is barely aware that he's still holding onto Rita, and probably won't let go unless someone points it out or he needs to grab something else.]

No. The rover's not here either, so she must be out there driving.

[And apparently getting trapped in a storm? Just great.]

[Jade's not saying anything about it, and Rita figures it might make Natsuno feel a little less worried, so--she won't mention it either, for now. Besides--there are plenty of other worrying things to focus on.]

Clouds? Dammit...

[It could be anything, but it sounds like they'll get caught up in it at this rate. And Clarke...Rita shakes her head while Natsuno answers, a grim frown on her face; her level of concern for the other girl might be significantly less than the other two, but it isn't zero, either...]

...We have no way to contact her...so we'd better come up with a different plan.

--Ah, the phones are inoperable as well? [Jade's automatically reaching for his own where it's been kept in an inner pocket even as this registers. Not that he finds his own reception to be any better, of course--] Unsurprising, I suppose...but this does make things more difficult. ...I don't like it, but we may need to head back to the diner after all. Perhaps try to commandeer one of the remaining vehicles there, if possible--

[--if there's time, but do they actually have any? Lowering his phone, Jade's outward cheer does seem to wane for just a moment, as he frowns and turns to scan the horizon over his shoulder once again.] There's no proper shelter to be had from a storm otherwise, out here in this terrain. Let's...

[...Hold on. On top of the fact that the clouds do seem to be increasing in definition over there now, and sure do look dustier than not....is that the shape of another vehicle, tearing down the highway from some ways off now?]

( from the perspective of gazing out across the parking lot, it probably looks like one big dust cloud barreling down the road in an ominously quick fashion — right up until it splits in two and there's now a separate hazy storm front cutting through the desert because a specific hellion with a car decided roads are for losers, and there's no time to waste sticking to established thoroughfare when the world might be ending. if you have all terrain tires, why not put them to good use? clarke has seen murderbot's beacon cutting across the sky and spared no time pulling a dramatic u turn to race back. it's dusty, dark, and a bit precarious of a drive; the headlights only cut through so much of the dry earth the tires kick up around the rover, there's more than a few times she's just relying on an established heading and praying there's no rocky desert pot holes.

and she's flooring it, nonstop and no breaks engaged because — this is what they've been waiting for, right? for shit to hit the fan and for everything turn from an simple, arguably pleasant outing to absolute chaos.

the similar ball of fast moving dust is noted in peripherals, but clarke mostly assumes it's another wayward passenger responding to the warning lights. whoever it is, she hopes they make it in time — to the fight, to safety, to any other positive that might be waiting for them on a paved over gravesite. but otherwise pays little attention, just rolls up her window, yanks jasper jordan's goggles down over her eyes when too much dirt starts swirling into the bed of the rover through the skylight, and keeps driving.

eventually, as she nears the diner, the illuminated circles of her headlights will cut through the grime and dust, like monstrous an unexplained eyes before the rest of the vehicles frame comes into focus. it's a bit lighter here, the radiating glow of fluorescents spilling out from the diner, maybe a lone street lamp flickering dutifully in the curtain of dusk; however much light there is, it's enough to pick out a familiar head of purple hair, and a beat later place the bob cut and long hippy dad ponytail. cool, good, three people with their hands in the plot and competence for days, all in one place.

clarke slows a bit upon entering the eerily empty parking lot, but impatience and panic means she still has to slam on the breaks and make the tires screech when pulling up alongside the trio. shoves the driver side door open before even coming to a complete stop, and immediately babbling to play catch up. )

What'd I miss? ( what happened, what changes, who's hurt, what's next? )

[So they're being forced to stay close to the diner, and thus the parking lot. Damn it. Natsuno is staring at the cloud front when he hears the rumble of engine and headlights appear. His irises flash red against the blinding light when Rover 1 comes to a screeching halt next to the trio.

Beep beep, that my motherfuckin friend.

There's no surprised sound from Natsuno, not sigh of a relief, not even a hi. Just a matter of fact update, without missing a beat.]

It's not started yet, but the portal's gone and so is the Friday.

[Rita grimaces at the dust cloud Clarke kicks up--ugh, deserts are the worst--but not forgetting about the second, more ominously approaching one.]

We're getting in.

[Just matter-of-factly announcing this to Clarke. The two girls might not be on great terms, but now isn't the time for pointless staredowns.]

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AUGUST EVENT PART TWO: GIL'S ALL-FRIGHT DINER

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