001-003 » a chilling mathias welcome

[villagemod]

WHO: Everyone.
WHERE: The east end of Mathias, along the waterfront.
WHEN: Days 001-003
WHAT: The newest residents of Mathias Township are welcomed with a storm.
WARNINGS: Will update as necessary. PM this account to have a warning added!
NOTES: A small love letter from your mod. This spot can be used for plotting.

RECOMMENDED ♫ Deadly Avenger "Mara"

DAY 001
THE ARRIVAL BEGINS

Is it the whooshing crash of waves on dark jagged rocks that wakes you? Perhaps. It might also be the near-continuous rumble of thunder growing closer every second, the vibrations almost seeming to come from the wet sand beneath your hands. Or maybe it’s the shivering of your own body as water recedes from the pebble-covered shore, the cold sinking into your very bones as a chilled wind picks up. It could be any of these things that rouse you from a deep slumber that leaves you feeling groggy and out of sorts--

But it’s the fear that gets you moving. A deep, intense terror grips your chest and squeezes the breath right out of you, and you know without a shred of doubt that you have mere minutes before whatever it is you’re so afraid of arrives on that stretch of rocky beach to greet you. Even if you want to stay rooted to that spot and faced it head-on, your body betrays you, a survival instinct etched into your genetic code forcing you to seek shelter.

Welcome to Mathias. You should probably run now.



THE STORM ARRIVES

When the storm crashes into the small township, it's hard to remember what life was like before it. The ocean becomes a raging thing, waves rising and falling as if trying to attack whatever they can reach along the coast. Any foolish enough to venture along the beach have no hope of surviving the encounter; their bodies will be swept out with the current, gone in the blink of an eye.

The wind is a howling beast, screaming between buildings and driving spikes of cold into any crevice it can reach. The rain is just shy of freezing, every drop like a shard of icicle trying to itself into your skin. It will bite at your nerves and leave you shaking if you stay out in it too long, so you had best get inside if you haven't already. You certainly don't want to attract the attention of the lightning that arcs in the sky like a vengeful god ready to unleash its wrath.

The Grey Gull restaurant sits at the edge of the town along the beach, and just a few yards away are two parallel rows of houses lining what might be a picturesque street if the world weren't beginning to resemble an apocalyptic landscape.

Move quickly, and choose wisely.

DAY 002
THE STORM RAGES ON

The storm has somehow become even more violent overnight. The world outside your shelter might be trapped in an endless night, for all you can see through the thick covering of storm clouds. Lightning continues to streak across the sky, thunder following almost immediately in its wake, threatening just how near those spikes of electricity truly are. You can see them touch the shore at times, even the street between the homes, but never the buildings themselves. A blessing, perhaps, or an oddity to take note of?

Some may be foolish enough to try venturing outside. They are welcome to, of course, that is their right, but the rain is still like ice and that lightning is so very near. You may try heading further into town, and you can certainly see buildings beyond this row of houses, but should you walk toward them...

Well. It is far from a pleasant experience. Exhaustion sinks into your bones so quickly that it leaves you reeling, and every second you push through it makes you physically ill with a feeling that you might collapse at any moment. The second you turn away from that path, however, you feel infinitely, and even more so each step back the way you came.

Something wants you to stay where you are. Perhaps you should.

DAY 003
THE CALM DESCENDS

The third day begins much as the second, with waves crashing upon the shore and thunder booming with such force that the ground seems to shake. It feels very much like the world might end right there, torn apart by a force of nature unlike any seen before. Any who venture outside at this time are almost immediately afflicted with a terror so intense that they can make it no more than a few yards or the short distance to cross a street before they become incapacitated by the fear that sets their heart beating dangerously fast. The term scared to death may very well become literal this day.

And then, suddenly it stops. The rain, thunder, lighting— all if it just stops and the silence that fills the night is deafening. There are no sounds of life within the town, no car motors or dogs barking or the voices of anyone beside those new arrivals in the immediate vicinity. In fact, none of those things even exist in Mathias. There are no cars, no animals or insects, no other people. There is just... emptiness and silence.

It may be best to wait until daylight to move further inland.



THE NIGHT DARKENS

For those who are foolish enough to leave the relative safety of the cluster of houses near the Grey Gull, they will find their journey quite chilling, in a very literal sense. There is another row of houses beyond where they had been, branching off on either side into a neighborhood. There are no lights on in any of these homes, though there are occasional streetlights illuminating their way. But as they continue further, reaching a third block of houses, those lights begin to dim, until they have gone out completely, and what had previously been a simple fall chill becomes biting cold as the temperature sharply drops.

In all of this, there is silence. No sounds travel through that night air to comfort them, and even looking up to the sky stretched out above them offers little reassurance. That sky is black, without a single star and not even the faintest outline of the moon to guide them. All that reaches them here is the barest hint of light traveling from the way they've come. The longer they linger outside in this place, the colder it will become, and any light they carry with them will slowly begin to dim as well.

Truly, they should have waited until the sun rose once more.

---

LOCATIONS

THE GREY GULL is what one might expect of the most frequented restaurant in a small coastal town. The wrap-around porch is lined with white chairs characterized by peeling paint. Exposed wooden walls and worn seating speak to its many years of existence, and the mishmash of décor confirms that the owner never much cared for how the place looked. What mattered here was the food, and faded chalk menus advertise soup specials and a daily pie. The bar appears to have once been well-stocked, but all the bottles remaining are unfortunately empty. There is, however, quite a bit of food in the kitchen that is somehow as fresh as if it were purchased that day.

The second floor of the restaurant is a sparsely furnished apartment. There are no personal items to be found; perhaps it was waiting to be rented out to someone.

THE HOUSES are well-kept, middle-class homes, four lining either side of the street. Their doors are unlocked, windows unshuttered, and everything within feels like the owners might return at any second. There is running water and electricity, fresh food in the fridge, photographs on the wall... but also dust everywhere. If you didn't know better, you'd say the place had been abandoned for years, and yet nothing has aged. It is both strange and unsettling, and yet no matter how hard you search, no answers may be found within these homes.

What can be found within them, however, is a phone. One single black phone within a main room of the house, and beside it, a list of handwritten numbers and names that have been crossed out.

1302 8-5491 Thomasen
1304 8-9256 Lyrie
1306 8-4712 Anders
1308 8-3201 Mulcalley

1301 8-0415 Sanderson
1303 8-6762 Reese
1305 8-9132 Evers
1307 8-9025 Hirano

Should your character choose to shelter in one of the houses, you are welcome to choose the features of that particular unit. Please reply to the comment thread below with the details you decide upon, specifying the house number in the subject line.

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Ellie | Day One | ota

[enduresurvive]

A; THE BEACH

Ellie doesn't remember a beach, or being on one. Yeah, there's a shoreline in Seattle, but she hasn't reached it yet. That's where she was heading. The aquarium. It was a shitty morning, with harder rain than she was used to seeing in Jackson. Fuck Seattle, honestly. That whole place was a nightmare.

This...doesn't look like Seattle, but that doesn't even make sense. She remembers going outside, bundled up in her jacket and a couple layers (like she is now, actually), but...well, now what? She must have gotten hit by someone or something. But she's not dead. She's pretty sure if she was, she wouldn't be feeling that lingering pain from the arrow wound in her shoulder, not to mention various other bruises or scrapes. Her head clears enough and she looks around for a second before pulling herself to her feet. Her bag is here, but...

"What the fuck happened to all my stuff?" she asks allowed. She has kind of a habit of talking to herself; she's not expecting an answer.

B; YOU SHOULD PROBABLY RUN NOW

Fear is a familiar feeling to Ellie, suffocating and nauseating all at once. It hits her and she's not sure why. There's no one else here at the moment. There's no Infected. It's just the ocean, which maybe is a little scary for someone who's only been able to swim for like three years, but...it's just the fucking ocean, right?

In the end, it doesn't matter. She decides to listen to her gut, because she's a survivor by nature. And you don't survive in a harsh world without listening to your gut at least sometimes. Back firmly on her back, she turns and darts across the sand. It's slow going at first, because sand isn't easy to run on, but she clears that beach and heads towards town. The first open window she spots is a side window of a house. She shimmies inside and slams the window shut, then sits there on the floor, back against the wall, breathing hard. Feel free to have seen her running and follow her, knock on the door, or find your own way into the house to encounter her here (she's starting off in the dining room).

[ plotting comment here if you want to plan things before we jump into them. Ellie's house number is 1304 8-9256 Lyrie. ]

day two

[enduresurvive]

A; for Rey
Ellie feels a little stir crazy by the next day. The storm rages on, just like the one that had blown in that morning in Seattle, the last thing she really remembers before the beach here. She's still sure this isn't near Seattle, but it's a pretty eerie coincidence, isn't it? Well, whatever. She still has that touch of fear, but...it doesn't feel quite the same.

In the early hours of the morning, Ellie comes out of the room she's barricaded herself in and back down to the living room. The storm rages outside and she feels keyed up by her own nightmares and the general uncertainty of the town. There's someone else here now, though, and she pauses in the doorway, still but on alert like a deer about to dart back off into the woods.

"Who the fuck are you?" she asks, never one for politeness, really.

B; for John Constantine
Anyway, she can't stay in the fucking house forever. She has to get back. What about Dina and Jessie? What about how fucking close she was to finding Abby, after all of it? That all still matters.

Outside, though, it's a nightmare. Sheets of water pour from the sky and thunder flashes above. The visibility is much worse than it was in Seattle, though. She can barely make out the buildings. But she'd noted, looking out the window, that there was some kind of bigger building, the restaurant or whatever it is, in the distance. She's got a good sense of direction.

What she doesn't have is much of a way to overcome that bone-deep fatigue that hits her only a few feet away from the house. It's like she hasn't slept in days. That wound in her shoulder aches. She feels like she's dragging. It's like being sick or something, but...that can't be right, can it?

She stops, still not at her destination, and leans heavily on a street sign, trying to work her way through it.

"Oh, man up, Ellie, for fuck's sake," she scolds herself.

B;

[hellblaze]

John had stepped outside from the Gull. He leaned against the outside wall, not much caring if his trenchcoat got soaked again. It was hard to judge anything through the sheets of water, but he was trying to tell what direction he could bounce towards. He's decided he can't stay much longer in the Gull. Sure, food's decent, but he wants to find a shop that's going to get him some cigarettes. The pack he has will eventually dry out, but, he'll need more.

Then, he stands. He can see the woman out there leaning on the sign. John glances up at the sky the moment the lightning flashes. Oh, Johnny boy, why are you such a bloody idiot? It's not like he's a hero or has to prove he is to anyone. He's saved loads of people. Hell, the woman probably could get to the Gull by herself anyways!

He sighs and flicks the collar of his trenchcoat up. Not that it will do much to help. Then he is dashing out into the rain towards her. The rain feels like ice dripping down his skin and he's instantly regretting his decision. He feels like a drowned rat. Regardless, he's beside her soon, ignoring the elements and the cold.

"Goin' out in a storm like this is bloody stupid, luv." He feels he almost has to shout over the rain. He nods the way he came back to the Gull. "C'mon, let's get you out of this, yeah?"

[enduresurvive]

The cold is biting, though that part, Ellie can bear a bit easier. Jackson has terrible cold winters full of blizzards and subzero temperatures. This freezing rain is shitty, but the temperature isn't the part that's the worst. It's that sudden sickening tiredness that gets her.

She looks up in time to see John there, though she can't muster the strength to really fight. Luckily, that's not what he's there to do, but...well, you never can tell, right?

His accent throws her, because she's never heard anything quite like that. Maybe in a film sometime, but certainly not in real life. But then nothing here seems like it can be real, right, so what's one more oddity?

"I'm fine," she yells back, though it's obvious that she's not. She pushes herself all the way upright but she can't manage to take another actual step. Damnit. She doesn't want to look weak or incapable in front of anyone, but especially not a stranger who could be a threat.

[hellblaze]

John holds his hands up to show he won't push. She doesn't want the help? Then he won't insist. Though, he will still walk with her back to the Gull - Grey Gull. Or not. It's obvious she's not much going anywhere in that state.

"Bollocks your pride." He sighs to himself and gives a shiver under his coat. He motions for her to grab onto his arm and he'll do what he can to anchor her while they make the rest of the trip. "Not really the kind of weather to give piggy back rides in."

He knows he wouldn't be able to get the pair of them there if he had to carry her.

"You can curse me to Hell once we get out of the rain. Come on."

[enduresurvive]

It's obvious that Ellie isn't a fan of this suggestion. She doesn't need anyone helping her, okay? But...well, that's not true. It's actually never been true. She's only even alive because of other people. Joel. Tommy. Tess. Dina. Many others, many of whom aren't alive themselves anymore. And they were all strangers once, too.

Fuck it, fine.

"Yeah. Okay."

She reaches out and takes his arm, wobbling as she lets go of the sign, but staying upright. She's small, but she's obviously strong underneath her layers of fabric. She didn't get this far away from the house on nothing, after all. She should thank John, probably, but she doesn't. Manners aren't her strong suit at the best of times, really, and this is far from the best of times.

Water buffets them, pushing Ellie's hair into her eyes. She fruitlessly pushes it back again with her free hand. Every step feels heavy, like it might drag her down to the ground. She refuses to let that happen, even if the going is painstakingly slow.

a

[reydacted]

Rey's a survivor, but even she wasn't going to stay in the elements for longer than she needed too. After dark she slipped into one of the seemingly vacant homes, sticking to the couch on the ground floor in case she needed to make a quick exit instead of having to deal with jumping out of windows.

She turns her head slowly, eyes wide and mouth parted just slightly as she's caught. Her pulse is spiking, but it does no good to look scared. She's fought her way out of worse before and she's sure she can do it again.

"Is this your house?" ignoring the question entirely. Rey hadn't been able to get a good look at the (printed! she can't believe it) photos or if the young woman in front of her is in any of them.

[enduresurvive]

Rey doesn't actually answer Ellie's question, but that's fine. She wasn't really expecting a literal answer, after all. If she'd been in Rey's place, she wouldn't have answered right away either.

"Not really," she answers. It's clearly not Rey's house either, or that wouldn't be the response. Besides that, everything is all dusty. No footprints. No bodies. No clusters of the fungus. No spores. It's...eerie, actually.

"I came in from the storm. Like you did, I guess." Five had done the same the day before. Ellie is a little bit softer now, but still clearly on her guard, just in case. "Did you wake up on the beach, too?"

[reydacted]

She nods hesitantly.

"This... isn't like where I'm from at all," which is the short explanation. She doesn't recognize any of the technology here. There's paper and ink and there's no transport vehicles in sight.

"Do you... is there anyone else you know here?" Rey had been so fortunate to have a companion follow her. She's not sure if it's the same case for others here.

day three

[enduresurvive]

A; for Doc Holliday

On the third day, in the calm after the storm, she makes it to the Grey Gull. She almost wishes she hadn't bothered, because there doesn't seem to be a lot going on here, either. But...she can't give up. She has to find something here, right?

But this place is still getting to her. In the end, she just slides into a chair and sits there with her head resting on her folded arms for a moment, forced to give up on her paranoid levels of vigilance for now as she tries to keep it together. She can't avenge Joel like this. She can't protect Dina, back in Seattle, pregnant and sick. Yeah, Jesse's there, but...but what about Tommy? He's alive, she thinks, but will he stay that way?

She hears a noise, though, of someone moving around and her head snaps up, alertness cutting through her swirling thoughts.

"Who's there?" she demands.

[thering]

Doc has been orbiting around the Grey Gull like a straying comet. Occasionally he'd pop inside, giving himself excuses even though he's neither particularly hungry nor particularly inclined to deprive others of what the establishment has to offer. It's curious, how it seems well-stocked for a town that is otherwise abandoned, and he couldn't recall seeing any supply trucks stop by which doesn't explain the state of the kitchen.

But yes, he's still looking out for a face or two he might recognise. Sometimes he'd hear a voice and turn, but. He's good at hiding the disappointment from his face. Hell he's good at hiding just about everything on his face.

So he doesn't seem anything but surprised when he's confronted by a young lady and her stern tone. Raising both hands, he tilts his head with a smile and reaches up with one hand to tip his hat.

"The name's Henry, miss."

[enduresurvive]

There's a moment where Ellie just stares at him, assessing whether or not he's a threat. He calls her miss and she thinks it's maybe patronising (she's not used to people who bother with that level of manners, really). But in the end, she decides he's probably like everyone else. They all woke up here before the storm, last she heard.

That hat tip might as well be something out of a movie and she actually half-laughs at it.

"Sorry, it's been a crazy few days. I'm Ellie. I...uh...woke up here like two days ago. On the beach."

[thering]

Doc takes most things in his stride, and he gets that reaction enough that it doesn't faze him in the slightest.

"As did I," he reassures her. Or perhaps it's not that reassuring. It is likely that they both have a growing pile of unanswered questions and no one to get any answers from. It just seems bit worse

"Have you eaten?" Even if they're not hungry, food can be disarming, and it might put them both a little more at ease.

b; lmk if this isn't okay/if he needs to go out the way he came

[40seconds]

To Coulson, it seems as though time is moving by in impressively fast increments, leaving him feeling as though he's trying but failing to keep up. One minute, he was waking up on the beach, and the next, he's stumbling to his feet and trying to outrun the oncoming storm. It goes about as well as can be expected, and it doesn't take long at all for Coulson's clothes to be drenched. That part doesn't bother him so much, especially since his priority is getting inside and away from the storm and the all-too-ominous lightning. A little wet clothes never hurt anyone, anyway.

Fortunately for him, a building all but looms up in front of him, and without a second's thought, he makes his approach. Who knows who might be inside, if anyone, but only a fool would stay outside in weather like this. The window appears to be tightly closed, but the door looks like it could be jimmied open if necessary.

Still, he's just going to try his luck with knocking firmly first, and if that fails, then he'll attempt other measures, such as trying to pry open the door. Hopefully if someone is inside, they'll hear his knocks and let him in. Of course, he won't blame them if they don't, because from their perspective, he's little better than a stranger.

this is fine! please excuse her shitty attitude

[enduresurvive]

Ellie has been in the house only a couple hours by the time Coulson knocks. She hasn't left again only because of that sickening fear, the sense that something will go terribly wrong if she leaves. Everything is confusing bullshit, but whatever. Seattle was confusing bullshit too.

She's in the backroom near the bathroom when she hears the knock. She goes completely still for a moment. She still hasn't found any weapons besides some mostly dull butter knives in the kitchen. She has one of those on her, because even a dull knife can be an effective weapon with enough force, but it's not much.

She hears the knock again and now she's sure she's not imagining it.

"Fuck, fine," she says out loud to no one, then makes her way back to the front door, knife in hand. The knife is still there when she pulls it open just a crack, but she's holding it out of view.

"Who are you? Are you WLF? Did you bring me here?" she asks. She's wound too tight; the questions don't even make sense and she knows that. If someone had brought her here, why would they show up and just knock? But adrenaline and fear make her mouth go before her brain.

no big deal, he's used to worse hah

[40seconds]

Part of him knows that this is a risk: knocking on a door to an unfamiliar building with no way of knowing who might be inside. It's not a smart move, and he knows it, but considering the alternative is staying outside and trying to brave the elements, he figures it's at least worth a try. If it goes south, well, he'll take his chances trying to escape and just live with the weather.

But when the door opens and he finds himself facing someone (well, sort of, because she's only opened the door a crack), a girl by the sounds of her voice, he hesitates for a fraction of a second before answering her questions.

"Phil Coulson, and I don't know what WLF is. I certainly didn't bring you here, because I don't really know how I got here myself." He knows he doesn't want to give away too much information, when he doesn't even know what or who he's dealing with, but he sees no harm in admitting that much.

[enduresurvive]

There's a tense moment where Ellie just sort of stares back at Coulson, deciding whether or not to believe him. He sure as hell doesn't look like part of the WLF with their heavy military gear. She doesn't see a gun on him, though that doesn't mean he doesn't have one. He doesn't seem like an immediate threat, but that doesn't mean anything, either.

He's drenched from the storm and the house is at least dry. Ellie still has bruises on her face, but she's not all bloody, having cleaned up the night before (or whatever) in the theatre in Seattle.

She finally decides to believe him. What purpose would it serve to lie to her about also waking up here? She can't see one. And despite her rage and paranoia, and that sickening fear that seems to get worse the longer she has the door open, she does care about other people who aren't her enemies.

She pulls the door open the rest of the way to let him in.

"I'm Ellie," she says. "Come on, it's fucking pouring."

b;

[fika]

There's very little clues that Five actually has to hang on, aside from the bone deep, cold fear. It's difficult to ignore, the quick hammering heartbeat, the impulse to run far away until the knot in his throat loosens.

So he tries for pragmatism. He tries for strategy in uncertainty because that is all there can be.

Ellie is the first person he catches sight of, amidst the wind that picks up and whips stray sand across his cheeks.

He runs after her, likely too far to call out. Not that he would, relying on his power to teleport him closer. When she ducks into the house, he follows. Where she slips into the dining room, Five has the wherewithal to jump into the living, and head in through the threshold instead. "Do you know where this place is?" Five has very little social graces, the last remaining remnants tempering his sharpness.

[enduresurvive]

Ellie has no idea if another window or door is open, having not explored yet, trying to get her breathing under control. It doesn't occur to her immediately that someone else might be in the house; she's not used to occupied houses in most places. This isn't like Jackson, a town rebuilt, full of people. It's obviously less populated than that.

The second Five appears in the doorway to the kitchen, Ellie springs to her feet. She doesn't have any weapons to brandish against him, but that doesn't matter. She'd never go down without a fight. She doesn't look like much, but she's wiry muscle under those jacket layers.

Everything about her stance is defensive, but not yet threatening. Her heart is still pounding. She doesn't want to fight this kid, anyway; he looks younger than her, and while she'll fight if she has to, attacking some kid isn't her first instinct.

"No," she answers, terse and quick because of nerves. So he must not live here. That question doesn't sound like something meant to taunt her, but closer to an actual inquiry. "I...woke up on the beach. I don't know how."

[fika]

He gives her a wide berth. The fear is still palpable, settling down only in lieu of being out of the storm. But it still rattles in his ribs, and if her reactions are anything to judge by, it clings to her the same way.

It's funny, actually. Five isn't one for sentimentalism as the first knee jerk reaction. But something about her rings familiar - not in the literal sense, not at all. Rather, the sort that's an echo of one thing and it makes you think of the other and when he looks at her, he thinks of his sister, hidden in the stalks of corn with a ring of destruction in her wake. Defenses high, but no where close to defenseless.

It isn't a productive thought, though and he isn't even sure why it's there. And definitely not one useful in the face of callous survival. So he rolls his shoulders, and pushes water out of his eyes instead, and frowns. "Me too."

"Any chance you're from 1963 Dallas, Texas?" He supposes there's no point in waiting on his questions. He has to gather facts, he has to gather something, and scrambled as his mind is, this is the first thing he thinks of. Time travel fuck ups, usually, are the case.

cw for some vague ptsd stuff

[enduresurvive]

Confusion overrides everything else for a moment at his question. She's not even sure what she's hearing at first, like maybe she heard him wrong. The words all make sense, but what a nonsensical thing to ask. In the end, she doesn't even parse the 1963 thing as a year. Time travel is a sci-fi concept, something impossible only to be found in books and comics and old movies.

It must be some sort of code for something she doesn't know, she thinks. That's the only way to make sense of it.

Texas, she thinks, and something inside twists and threatens to overwhelm her. She's never been to Texas, but that's where Joel and Tommy are from. That's her only association to the place. They aren't from Dallas, though. Austin. She knows it on a map.

She's already deep enough into fear that this sort of thing is a trigger she can't pin down, spiralling thoughts that make her think too much. She doesn't know how long it takes her to get it back under control (it's only about half a minute, but it's a weird half a minute to see, probably).

"I'm from Jackson," she says, and her voice sounds faraway in her ears. "Wyoming."

She steadies her gaze at Five again, seeing him, shoving down that sickening fear and the trauma she can't escape from. She notes his clothes, something for her to focus on, something...actually inexplicably weird. She's never seen clothes like that before. They don't seem very practical.

"What the fuck is this place?" she asks, though she doesn't expect he knows. If he just woke up here too, then what answers can he possibly give her?

i'll bite for A!

[torsion]

Jill's been up. She looks out at the water, unable to gauge the distance it goes. River or lake or something even larger? It sure as hell isn't Africa, that's what she knows.

But she can smell the brine. The taste of sea salt and soil still on her tongue; the coppery tinge of blood. It's a memory that's pulled forward and she tries to keep down. Death wasn't something she feared, not even when she'd hit the water and felt the darkness envelop her. All that mattered was the action at the time. But it's kicked up now. The fear of loss, the fear of being too slow. Of time.

Her thoughts drift in and out like the water at her feet. If it wasn't for the voice nearby, she'd have remained lost in her thoughts.

"I'll tell you when I figure out where my stuff is." She moves toward the voice, easily approaching, with a comfortable casualness that suggests she means no harm. "I woke up here without any of my weapons. I wasn't in a situation where I could have been knocked out -- not like this, anyway."

[enduresurvive]

Ellie is on her feet immediately upon hearing Jill's voice. She grips her bag tight with one hand. She isn't expecting any answer, after all, so another person just speaking up is alarming. She assesses Jill as quick as she can. No gun pointed at her. Nonthreatening stance.

Jill's words sink in after a moment. They took all her things, too; no weapons. So they're on even ground there. That doesn't mean they're safe with one another; Ellie certainly knows better than that. But it does mean that Jill isn't the one that brought her here. It doesn't make them friends or even allies, but it means they aren't enemies right away. Probably.

"I wasn't either," she finally says. "I don't remember being knocked out or anything like that."

[torsion]

She avoids sizing her up, though in the back of her mind Jill does it to nearly everyone. Even during charity functions for the BSAA, she'll do it all the same. You have to be prepared.

She lifts her hand in greeting. Light and casual, nothing big or extreme, though her fingers twitch and curl, almost pointing with her forefinger as she motions a wave in a side-swipe, settling down against her hip as she goes.

"Hate to say it's comforting that it's happened to someone else, but at least I'm not alone in this." She tilts her head up and steps a bit closer, though leaving her a comfortable space to dip out of if she chooses to. "Woke up a little while ago; trying to gauge where we were by the water, but I'm not sure how far it goes. I was in Africa before I woke up here, so..."

Skeptical. Disbelief oozing into her voice, her expression.

"Jill Valentine." She takes a few steps closer and leans forward to offer her gloved hand. "I'm going to figure out what's going on."

[enduresurvive]

"Maybe it's not comforting, but I'd rather not be alone, either," Ellie says. She manages a smile, but there's no mirth there. "Guess misery just loves company, maybe."

She thinks, but doesn't yet say, that it could be so much worse than this. She can still move. She doesn't have any new injuries, as fas as she can tell.

They're still alive, and that's a lot better than the alternative, isn't it? On her worst days, she wonders if maybe it isn't worth fighting so hard. But she refuses to fucking die before Abby. She refuses. Spite is a good motivator, though, even when nothing else is. It sure works now to remind Ellie of her resolve.

She closes the gap enough to shake Jill's hand. It's more formal than she'd usually bother being, but this whole thing is weird as shit anyway.

"Ellie," she says. "And I'm in. Let's figure this bullshit out before whoever did this comes back to fuck us up."