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E M M A and Madison
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Iain was still walking, looking around as he was still humming. He looked around, listening to the ground crunch beneath his sneakers. He felt the wind blow against his face, which made a little bitty smile curl onto his face. He loved that, a lot, and it reminded him of the times that he used to have with his mom and his dad when he was little.
Iain snapped out of his little trance and looked over at Teagan. "Oh. Nothing really. It is just a song that my mom really likes." He replied with a shrug, biting down on his lip softly. "Nothing all that special." He leaned over, picking up a stick which was a bit wet, and fiddling it in his hands. "She really loved anything by Louis Armstrong, but her favorite song was "What a Wonderful World," so that's my favorite song too." He replied, scratching his neck.
Looking over at Teagan, he fiddled with the end of his jacket sleeve, dropping the stick on the ground. "Hey, would you like to use my jacket? Just for this. If you do, please don't tell anybody." Iain said, looking at the ground, then looking back up at Teagan. "I wouldn't want anybody to see." Iain blushed a light pink.
Sure, he would still make fun of things, everybody actually, and crack wise jokes about the stupidest things, but he had to help out. He wanted everybody to see that he was a good guy, with some things wrong in his life, but he mostly wanted to help.
Teagan smiled slightly, "My grandma loved Louis Armstrong." she looked down to the ground in silent remembrance. She pictured her and her grandma dancing around to his songs in the living room on top of the floral patterned rug next to the fire place and the smell of baking lemon cake drifting in from the kitchen. The Louis Armstrong record she was play crackling on the turntable as her grandma hummed along with her eyes closed and a brilliant smile on her face. There was no one Teagan loved more than her grandma. She was completely devastated when she died three years ago.Iain offered Teagan his jacket. The offer caught her off guard, she knew he wasn't fond of her, so she was just a bit touched. She politely declined, however, "Then you will be cold.." she said gently. She hated people being uncomfortable at her expense. "I'll be okay. I don't really mind being cold." she smiled reassuringly at him.
Just then, the downpour grew heavy. "Oh no!" Teagan exclaimed, and ran off to the semi shelter of a large oak. As cold as it was, the heavy rain in this forest was gorgeous. Teagan couldn't help but release a wide grin, her eyes sparkled with delight. "I feel like I'm in a book." she said, "Something crazy happening, surviving in the forest, torrential downpour while we're scouting. And look at the beauty of it all!"
Iain gave Teagan a little smile. "Yeah. My mom used to sing to his songs all of the time as she made Italian food. She would dance around the kitchen with my dad, she even taught me to dance, even though I stepped on her toes a lot. It wasn't my fault." Iain chuckled, running his hand through his hair as he looked over at Teagan. "She, she was great. I loved her." Iain stated.
Sure, now he was being soft. Now he was being a fluffy little teddy bear. Maybe he did need the nap and the bottle that Nia had told him about earlier, but he tried to brush that off of his mind. "Oh. Okay." Iain said with a shrug. "Just tell me f you need it, okay? I really don't mind being cold."
Then, it started pouring and Iain ran after Teagan under a big oak tree. It was towering like a giant building and it was actually really beautiful. "To be honest, this does remind me of a movie. I honestly have to wake myself up here and there, but it turns out I am already awake and I'm not dreaming. It's real."
Teagan stood there in silence for a few minutes, and then she frowned slightly, staring straight ahead. "Do you think anyone you love got out like we did?" She stared past the rain, into the stretch of forest in front of her, as if looking for the answer. She was freezing, but not because of the rain anymore. Her skin crawled with the desperation of wanting her family to be safe. Her younger brother, at home running through the backyard with their dog. Her mom and dad, their arms around each other as they both sipped steaming cups of tea, smiling sweetly at the sunset they watched every night. Her older sister, dancing carelessly into the night with her friends, her contagious laughter echoing, her hands swinging. Her best friend, watching endless movies, annotating books, smoking too many cigarettes while she cried over the death of her father. She thought of all of them being ravaged by the zombies, having their intestines torn out by rotting teeth as they screamed.
Teagan couldn't move. She stood there, stiff and still, her eyes brimming with tears that seemed too warm. She felt like she wanted to throw up. But then she caught herself. She didn't show when she was sad, she hated the way it made people treat her, and it made her feel weak. She sniffed, and gently blinked away the tears, still continuing to stare straight ahead, "I don't think any of mine did."
Iain sat down on the ground, bringing his legs closer to his chest and looking over at Teagan. "I honestly don't know." He replied. "I want to say that my dad did, but he's not the brightest lightbulb in the box." He replied with a shrug.
He could see his mother, who was no longer there like she always was. His father, in his best suit, coming home later that night to see that his mother was gone. Not because of all of that, but because of a stupid illness. Iain shrugged, putting his forehead on his knees. "I'm hoping and praying that my dad made it out alive. Sure, he was mean and stuff, but that doesn't mean that I still love him and that I care for him. I just want what is best for him, and I'm sure that he wants the same thing for me." Iain replied with a nod, putting his lips together.
"You can't say that. You don't know that for sure." Iain said, taking off his jacket and picking up a stick, probably the one that he had picked up earlier, in front of him and started playing with it, rubbing the sharp end into his arm. It wasn't actually that sharp though. Kind of stubby. "What if they did though? They will find out what to do, trust me."
Teagan wished she could have the same kind of confidence in her family as Iain wanted her to have, but she just knew them too well. "They're not the right type of people." She laughed sadly, "I remember once when we were visiting my aunt in Florida and there was a big hurricane warning." She stopped to take a breath, "We were supposed to evacuate, but my father said they were just making a big deal out of nothing, and my mom never argued with him. So, there we stayed in that house. My aunt left to evacuate, but she couldn't take any of us with her because my parents wouldn't let her." She shook her head, "We were fine for the most part. My sister took me and my brother under the bed and we made a fort and read. At one point a shard of something ripped through the house and got my dad right on ther arm. He still has a scar of it." She stopped for a moment and looked down at the design she had been absentmindedly drawing into the dirt, "I guess what I'm trying to say is I know they wouldn't try and leave the city. They probably got stuck there, a zombie got into the house, and my family who is built up of wimps probably wasn't able to kill it in time." She waited for a second, thinking, "If anyone got out, it was my sister. She was always the one who knew exactly what to do. God, I wish she was here right now." At this last thought, a tear slipped out of Teagan's eyes, she cursed and wiped it away, laughing at herself. She felt dumb, even though she knew it wasn't. She would never see her family again.
At this thought a moan sounded from somewhere close, barely audible over the drone of the rain.
Iain sighed, looking over at Teagan and then back down at his sneakers, which were now covered in a bit of blood, mud, and something else, maybe gum?, but that wasn't from today. "I'm sorry that happened. I mean, I couldn't have done anything to stop it, but if I could I would have." Iain replied, running his hand through his hair as he looked back over at Teagan. Sometimes, all of the time, he wished that natural disasters never happened. They were always a pain in everybody's rear ends. And they never ended out with a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
"My mom, she died of cancer years ago, maybe when I was fifteen. That's when my dad pulled me up from behind, changed everything about me." Iain stated, rubbing his eyes. "I miss my mom, but then I look back sometimes and wonder if I would be the same person that I would be today with her around."
As Iain closed his eyes for a little while, he lifted his head when he heard a faint moan in the distance. "Did you hear that?" He asked, looking up, his eyes wide open.
Teagan didn't have time to reply to Iain as she stood up quickly. She looked around, not seeing anything, but hearing the definite tell tale signs. Why would there already be one out here? Maybe a camper? It sounded as if it were heading towards the camp. They could probably handle just one, but what if they were caught up with something and it caught them off guard? Or what if there were more? Should they keep scouting and make sure the area is safe, taking the risk, or should they go all the way back and warn everyone?
"What do you think we should do?" she whispered to Iain, crouching next to him and scanning the area.
((Sorry this one is so short, I couldn't think of anything else to add))
(( you're fine! ))
Iain crouched on his knees, his eyes still open wide. He didn't know if it was another camper or one of those gross icky things, lurking around for something to eat. "I, I seriously have no idea. One part of me really wants to go and see if this area is still safe, but what if it goes in the direction of the camp? Everybody would be so preoccupied in what they are doing to notice. And we certainly don't want anybody in danger." Iain replied, getting back up on his feet.
He certainly wasn't leader material, but he sure did like being one for the time being. He would have to say that the leader of the group would have to be Clark, after all he did drive the only source of transportation that they had. Or maybe it was Stella because she gave orders to everybody.
"What do you think we should do, Teagan?" Iain asked, looking over at Teagan. "I mean, you're input has some value in this conversation also." He added, nodding as he rocked back and forth on the heels of his sneakers.
Teagan thought for a moment, still crouched, listening. She had always been pretty level headed, keeping calm in even the scariest situations. A lot of people have told her she should be a doctor or on the police force. She got that from her sister. She guessed that's why she felt her sister was still alive. If Teagan could get out, so could she. Suddenly Teagan had an idea. "We have to split up. You start scouting ahead, and I'll run back and warn everyone. I'm a fast runner, I'll be able to make it there and back in no time." She smiled at him charmingly, she guessed he wouldn't be happy with the idea.
She handed Iain the knife. "I won't need this, I can outrun them easily. You take it, I'll be back soon." Teagan lept up and began running through the forest, light and fast. She didn't give him time to object further.
Iain looked over at Teagan, still crouching on the ground. He was starting to get a bit nervous, which made him fidget with the stick in his hands. He really should have brought his fidget spinner. That would have made things a lot more better, but then he realized that people would probably make fun of him for having it at a time like this.
"Splitting up? Are you crazy? At a time like this?" Iain shook his head, crossing his arms. "I will not get eaten by one of those things. I want to stay alive." Then, Teagan smiled and it made him feel a little bit better. Calming down, he dropped the stick. "Okay. Fine. I'll scout, you go and warn the other's. Stay safe, okay?" Iain told her, patting her shoulder as she handed him the knife.
Looking down at the knife, he nodded. "Are you-" He started, then he watched as she ran off to go and warn the others. "Stay safe, Teagan." He muttered to himself, walking off and scouting the area ahead. So far everything looked fine. There were a few dead animals here and there, he couldn't tell if this one possum was actually dead or not, but so far everything was good. And then he heard faint moans again, causing the hairs on the back of his neck to stand up.
((Sorry I haven't posted at all today and sorry this one sucks so bad! I've had an exhausting day, and it's late, but I wanted to post at least something!))Teagan was hardly tired when she reached the camp - making good time. However, the camp all looked at her worriedly. Clark was still chopping down trees and bushes, Nia and Stella were working on getting a fire going under the rain, and Rico was setting up a pretty nice looking shelter. But when Teagan entered the clearing they stopped all of that, "Where is Iain?!" Stella asked, alarmed.
"He's okay." Teagan reassured them. "We heard some moans and rustling in the forest, and wanted to warn you. We're going to continue scouting, but we wanted to make sure you were safe." Stella snarled a bit.
"How dumb can you kids get? What if there's more out there?" Stella said angrily.
Teagan sighed, "We thought of that. I'm running back quickly, and he has a knife. Iain is tough enough." She turned around and began to walk, "Speaking of which, I should head back." She began to quickly run back in Iain's direction, hoping she hadn't made the wrong choice.
(( you're fine! no worries. :) ))
Iain kept on walking, clutching the knife tightly in his hands. He looked around, whistling a song that he didn't even know the title of. It was just some song that was catchy and was plastered into his brain. "It's okay, Iain. Nothing is going to get you. Don't worry." He spoke to himself, nodding as he looked around the woods.
So far, there was nothing except for the sound of faint moans here and there, but they sounded pretty far and distant. Looking around and walking, he let out a sigh.
Twirling the knife in his hand, he looked around, leaned over, and grabbed another stick off of the ground. As he began to shave off the wood with the blade of the knife, he noticed that there was some blood on his knife, and he hadn't even encountered one of those weird looking things though. However, it did sound like the moans were getting a little bit louder...
Teagan rushed back to the direction Iain went off. She heard moaning in somewhere, and cursed to herself. She hoped Iain wasn't in trouble. She would never forgive herself. After a bit, she came across some trees that had spigots hammered into them. Maple trees! she thought, excitedly. This was a great find. Not that it was very helpful, but they could do a lot with syrup, and it was nice with the lack of sugar they brought. Rico would be happy. She ran for perhaps two more minutes, now slightly out of breath, before she spotted him. He was walking and whittling a stick while whistling some dumb song she had heard on the radio a few times. She smiled, relieved, "You're okay!" she said, running up to him. She had a strange urge to hug him, but refrained. The moaning was louder now, but it still sounded far away. "I heard the moans and got worried." She looked sheepishly to the side. Did she really just admit she had been worried about him? "Did you find anything useful?" she asked, looking around.
Just then, a branch snapped somewhere off in the brush. Teagan ducked behind a tree while grabbing Iain's arm and pulling him with her. She looked at him with her eyes wide. "Do you think that is one of them?" she whispered.
Other than the moans, it was really quiet in the forest, and quite peaceful. Iain would have taken a nap, but he didn't want to wake up and see that those icky things had taken out his ribs and eaten them for lunch. He turned around, holding his knife in his hands, only to see that it was Teagan. And he wasn't going to kill Teagan. She was actually pretty useful.
Iain gave Teagan a weird look, tilting his head to the side a little bit. "Of course I'm okay. Why wouldn't I be okay?" Iain awkwardly chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck a little as he looked around. "Yeah. I have been hearing those moans also. It has kind of been creeping me out a little." He replied, shrugging. He knew that he shouldn't be scared, but when it came to something that he had never seen come up close, he turned into full sissy mode.
A branch snapped and Iain went down with Teagan. "Wait, those icky looking green thingys?" Iain asked, making sure as he poked his head up a little bit, trying to see if he could get a glimpse of it. "Maybe. I mean, there isn't anybody else in this forest. Let's just hope that it isn't."
Teagan peered around the tree as well, not noticing how close she was standing to Iain. "I found maple tappings." She whispered to Iain, "I'm thinking the people harvesting it might have be the source of the moaning." She told him. "Hopefully they're still alive, but I doubt it with the sounds they're making." She wondered how these things were made. Yeah, she knew what zombies were, but how did these start? They couldn't just randomly pop out of graves, right? Were they part of a terrible disease or experiment? Or was there something actually going on with the dead? Whatever they were, they needed a less cheesy name than zombies. Suddenly the moan grew very loud.
Lo and behold, one of the gross creatures emerged from the bushes. It was disgusting. It's whole abdomen had been dug into, blood and guts dripping out from it. The stench was terrible as well - she wondered how they hadn't smelled it before. It moaned and and started walking slightly to the left of them. Teagan reeled back, accidentally bumping into Iain. She turned around. "Let me see the knife. Clark told me how to kill them." She held out her hand to him expectantly, whispering as quiet as she could. "You distract it, and I'll sneak up behind it and kill it."
Iain looked over at Teagan, looking down at the ground and then back over at her. "Maple tappings. That's useful, a source of sugar to get us all hyped and ready. Staying awake." He rambled, looking around. "Me too. Nobody deserves to die from this." He replied with a nod.
Suddenly, the moan got even louder than it had been before, and to be honest Iain was starting to get a little bit more scared than he had been before. Nothing like this had ever happened to him or anybody else he had known. Why was it happening now? Then, he took a whiff of a terrible stench. Putting his hand over his nose, he shook his head. "That smelt horrid." He whispered, shaking his head.
And then, a gross creature emerged from the bushes. His eyes growing wide and his mouth going into a huge o, he shivered a little bit. It was worse close up than it was far away. Watching as Teagan bumped into him, he couldn't keep his eyes off of the thing. Iain handed her the knife, still looking at the zombie. "Okay. I'll do my best." Iain stood up, looking at the zombie and scooting back a little bit as it walked slowly towards him. Grabbing a stick, possibly the largest one he had, he looked at it. "I am not afraid to use this. I will whack you upside the head."
Iain handed her the knife, and Teagan crept around the other side of the tree, and snuck through the bushes, going past the gross creature. The smell was even worse close up. Iain grabbed a large stick and said something strange to the creature. Teagan would have laughed if the situation wasn't so serious. The zombie continued to 'walk' towards Iain, who was slowly backing away with his stick in front of him. Teagan, as silently as she could, walked up behind the zombie. She could see Iain watching her. She took a deep breath, and wrapped her arm around its head.
The zombie struggled, snarling and squirming, but Teagan held on tight, trying to aim. It's head was slimy, and the skin was loose, giving her even more of a challenge. Nonetheless, she plunged the knife into its temple. I was much harder to do than she thought it would be. The zombie collapsed to the ground, and in the midst of her trying to yank the knife back out, which was proving extremely difficult, something grabbed her from behind.
Teagan fell to the ground as she flipped around, trying to see what had tackled her. More snarling and teeth clanking, and Teagan saw another disgusting face above her. She screamed, trying to kick it away, "Iain!"
Iain was still walking backwards, watching the monster with wide eyes and making sure that he himself didn't trip on anything in the ground. If he did trip on something, he could fall to his doom and the green icky monster would be the last thing that he had ever saw. Then. Iain's eyes widened even more when he saw that Teagan wrapped her arms around the thing.
"Ew. That's disgusting!" Iain exclaimed, shaking his whole entire body. He had no idea how she would have ever been able to do that. In fact, he would have never been able to do that himself. The thought would't get out of his head now. Teagan was, and he kind of hated to admit this, very strong.
Iain watched as the zombie fell to the ground. Now, everything was done. But, she fell to the ground. "Teagan!" He yelled, looking for something to fight off the zombie with. He couldn't kill somebody, but he could kill somebody if they were already dead. Grabbing a stick with a sharp end, and he had no idea if it was going to help or not, he looked at the zombie, pulling it off Teagan. To his surprise, it really was slimy. "Let's hope this stick works!" Iain yelled, stabbing the stick into his chest and watching it go through.
((I won't be able to reply for a bit, sorry))
Iain ran over with a sharp stick and knocked the thing off of her. Teagan rolled out from underneath it and sprang up. Iain stabbed it in the chest, but Clark had told her they could only die by getting them in the head. She didn't know if this was true, but she wasn't going to risk it. "You have to stab its head!" She yelled over to Iain as she rushed to pull her knife out of the other monster. She put her food on the zombie's chest, and both of her hands on the hilt of the knife and yanked. The knife was covered in goo and blood; she grimaced, wiping it off on her pants.
She didn't hear the moan behind her anymore, so she assumed Iain had done it. She turned around and flashed him a big smile. "Nice kill, dude. We make a good team." She stepped back and looked at the chaos in front of her. Two bloody monsters sprawled on the ground that they had killed. Teagan had to admit, she was proud of herself and of Iain. She didn't think he would actually have the guts to kill one, but he had surprised her.
She let out a long breath. The sun was going down slightly, and the rain was sprinkling again. The temperature was dropping even more, but with the adrenaline and blood furiously pumping through her, she didn't notice. "Well, I think that's enough scouting for today. Shall we?"
Iain had stabbed it in the chest, not sure if it was actually dead or not. That was when he heard that Teagan was telling him to stab its head. Rolling his eyes, he couldn't believe that he would have to do something else to the zombie. He thought that he had it all under control, but it wasn't his fault. He didn't know the first thing about fighting zombies. Grabbing his sharp stick back, he stabbed it in its head. Taking a deep breath, he yanked the stick out.
He had just done that. And to be honest, it actually felt kind of weird and good all at the same time.
Stepping back, Iain looked over at Teagan and nodded. "Yeah. I think that we do too." He mentioned with a little smile planted onto his face. He may have gotten off on the wrong foot with everybody, even Rico, but now he was starting to feel a little bit better. Also, he couldn't be mad because of all of this. It wasn't their fault.
Iain nodded. "Yeah. I think that is enough scouting for today." Iain chuckled as he started walking back towards the campsite. He couldn't believe that he had done that to a person who was already dead. "Is it bad that I was pretty scared of those zombies?" He asked Teagan curiously as he stuffed his hands in his pockets.
Teagan smiled back at Iain, and hooked the knife back on her belt. Maybe he wasn't as bad as she had originally thought. Iain asked if it was bad that he was scared of the zombies."Of course not. There are undead people walking around trying to kill us - I'd be worried if you weren't scared." She sighed, "However, I think we need to get over quickly. I doubt they're going to go away anytime soon, and we need to harden ourselves."
Teagan had never seen herself as a brave leader type, but she could see herself blossoming into it. She had a smart, strategic mind, was strong, and apparently also brave. She had always been good under pressure, but she'd never been under this much pressure. She just hoped she'd hold up under everything that was going on. Thankfully. she wasn't alone. She smiled at him again and began walking back towards their camp, running her hand through her wet hair.
Teagan and Iain didn't talk much on the way back, both probably still pretty shocked at what just happened. They entered camp to find a nice, roaring fire, a small shelter big enough to fit them all if they laid really close together, and people enjoying themselves for the first time that day.
Clark strolled over and put his arm around Teagan. He smiled at Iain before escorting her over to the fire. She bit her lip at the closeness and the weight of Clark's arm over her.
((I'm thinking love triangle between Teagan, Ian, and Clark, but ultimately Clark ends up with Nia?))
Iain nodded as he listened to every single word roll off the tip of Teagan's tongue. His eyes were stuck on her knife. "Oh. I-I was just wondering. I didn't want to seem like a sissy and be scared of them. I mean, everybody has to be scared of them. They look unnatural. I am actually glad that we are all kind of scared of them in our own ways, but I'm not glad that we are all scared, you know?"
When they came back to the campsite, Iain immediately felt cozy because of the campfire. He wondered if anybody had anything to make smores, but he didn't want to make this all seem way too childish. He looked over at Clark, who wrapped his arm around Teagan. He looked down, sitting at an empty spot on a log. When he saw Clark do that, it actually kind of stung. He knew that he should never feel jealous of anybody, but he actually was kind of jealous. After the thing that he and Teagan went through, he thought that they kind of built up some chemistry. Maybe it was all in his head though.
Looking at the fire, he grabbed a piece of notebook paper from his journal and started ripping little pieces and putting them on the ground and every little second, he would look up at Clark and Teagan to see if something juicy was happening between the two. Clark was handsome. He was manly, he had muscles, he had the truck. He had everything. Iain realized that he had a stupid notebook, a broken pencil, and a head full of snarky remarks that he wanted to say to somebody in the future.
(( yeah! that sounds good! :) ))
Teagan walked over to the fire with Clark. She sat down next to him and smiled at Nia who smiled back and continued her conversation with Rico. Clark leaned over, "So, how did it go out there with Mr. Angst?" Teagan laughed and glanced over at Iain who was writing again. She wondered what he wrote about all the time, but she doubted he would ever let her see."He actually surprised me and stepped up to the plate. We were attacked by two zombies, and he killed one of them." She smiled into the fire, "Thanks for telling me how to kill them, by the way. It was a pretty handy skill to know." She looked up into Clark's dark blue eyes, feeling like she was swimming in them. He smiled down at her. They were pretty close, and she wondered if anyone else was noticing. She doubted it.
Clark scratched the stubble growing on his chin, "You're a pretty strong girl, you know that?" he said, causing Teagan to blush slightly and look back into the fire. She noticed Iain glancing over at them, but then quickly back to his notebook. She sighed again. Iain had shown her a different side in the forest, and she felt like they had grown somewhat of a bond through the experience, but Clark was who she escaped with, and he was so extremely handsome. Clark seemed to actually like her, too, unlike Iain who just always seemed to have a bad word for her.
She slightly leaned into Clark, letting herself relax for the first time that day. "Did you guys save any beer for us?" She asked, smiling at the rest of the group. She could sure use one.
Stella happily got up and grabbed two beers out of the back. She popped them open on a stump and passed them around.
((Haha it might be cheesy, but I love triangles))
Iain looked at his notebook, biting his lip as he looked back up at Clark who was talking about him and calling him, Mr. Angst. Clenching his fist again, he took a deep breath. He was pretty sure that he wasn't on Clark's good side. Besides, he could see why Teagan liked him. He had a little stubble of hair growing on his chin and every single time Iain wanted hair on his chin, it never came.
Looking up at Teagan whenever she stuck up for him, he gave her a soft smile and looked back down at his notebook, turning around on the log so he wasn't facing the campfire anymore.
Clark hates me. He despises me. Teagan loves him. Of course, I'm not giving anybody annoying nicknames anymore. Maybe I should give myself one. I acted different in the forest and Teagan did too. It was like, we didn't want to annoy each other.
Slipping his notebook in his backpack, he still had his back turned from the campfire and everybody sitting around it. He wasn't really in the mood for talking. Turning back around, he saw Teagan looking into Clark's eyes, leaning against him, and drinking. They were having fun. Iain thought that he should have some fun, but were people supposed to have fun at a time like this? He rather would like to stay quiet.
(( me too! i really like doing love triangles and i haven't done one in a while, so it is great to be doing one now. :) ))
Teagan frowned at Iain as he faced the other way, his back to everyone. If they were all going to live together, she felt like he should at least make an effort. He had been a lot different in the forest, and she felt people would get along with him a lot better if he acted that way with everyone.She got the beer and took a swig of it. It was warm, and it was weird sharing it with everyone, but she wasn't going to complain. She still had the gin in her bag, but she was saving that for a special occasion...if they survived long enough to have one.
"Hey, loner boy!" she called out to Iain. She looked up at Clark, "I'll be right back." she told him quietly. Clark unwrapped his arm from around her and she got up and walked over to Iain.
She sat down next to him on the log and nudged him with her elbow. She held the bottle of beer out to Iain, offering him a drink. "Hey, is something wrong?" she asked him gently, not wanting to irritate him. "I know you're not always like this." she teased, smiling at him, trying to get him to open up. "You can talk to me, at least."
Iain heard Teagan yell out to him, which made a little smile spread onto his face. And then, as even came to sit by him, which made him even more happier. Looking at the bottle, he grabbed it. He had never tried drinks like that before, but this time nobody would really find out. Besides, he was old enough to have one anyway. Taking a sip, he squinted his eyes a little bit. "I thought that drinks like that were supposed to be cold." Iain stated with a soft chuckle as he handed it back to Teagan.
He didn't really want to tell her what was going on. "Oh. Just got done writing, nothing all that fancy." He replied with a shrug, looking down at his shoes. "Just, putting my thoughts on paper, that's all." He added with a nod. Maybe he should bring up Clark in this conversation. After all, Teagan said that he could talk to her. They were friends now, maybe?
"So, I see that you and Clark are getting along. That's good. He's a great dude." Iain stated with a nod, sliding his backpack against the log. "I mean, he's totally headstrong, cool, and plus, he has hair on his chin, a man's dream to have." Iain chuckled with another nod. He was mostly jealous of the stubble of hair that Clark had, along with everything, and he was hoping that he was doing a great job of not showing it to anybody on the campsite. Nobody really needed to know.
Teagan frowned at his comment about the drink, "They are...but I don't see any fridges around here. Have you never drank before??" She asked, somewhat alarmed. He seemed old enough.Teagan glanced down at his notebook, extremely curious about what he wrote in there. Was it a diary? Did he write poetry? Was he in the middle of writing a book? Again, she doubted he would probably ever let her read it. He seemed very closed about his writing.
Iain brought up Clark, and Teagan shyly smiled, looking down. "Clark and I escaped together. It built kind of a strong bond - fleeing a city full of monsters and death together. I don't know, I guess he just makes me feel safe, and that's a good feeling to have right now." She looked over her shoulder and smiled at Clark, who was watching them curiously. She turned back to Iain. "You're not jealous, are you?" She had no clue how Iain worked, and she wanted to make sure no one's feelings were getting hurt. "What about Nia? She seems really cool..." she said smiling sweetly at him.
Iain shook his head. He had never drank before. "No. I mean, I'm old enough. I just haven't really thought about it before until now. And I didn't want to say no to the offer. That would be rude." He added, nodding as he bit his lip. When Teagan started talking about Clark, he could only listen. He didn't want to object and ramble about how Clark possibly hated him. "Oh. That's, that's really cool. I'm glad that you guys are close to each other. Like I said earlier, he's a great guy."
Turning around slowly, he saw that Clark was watching them curiously, and he quickly turned back around. He wondered what Clark was thinking about. Was he thinking about Teagan? Was he thinking about him? Iain didn't know, and he preferred not to know for now. Maybe someday in the future he could talk to Clark without getting a black eye.
"What?! No. No. I'm not jealous at all. I was only, asking. Asking is different than being jealous." Iain replied with a warm chuckle, nodding. "Not jealous at all, just wondering, you know?" He gave Teagan a playful nudge, smiling. "Yeah. Nia is great. I've only known her for a little while, but she's nice. She's headstrong, fun, and she has really pretty hair that I want to run my fingers through sometime." Iain blushed a little whenever he said that. "But, I don't like her that way."
Teagan laughed, "Yeah, he's a nice guy. I think you two would get along if you were a little more sociable....like maybe not turning your back to everyone?" She smiled at him warmly, hoping she didn't offend him. She just didn't want him to be left out, and despite what he said, she felt like he was slightly jealous of Clark. "I'll take your word for it." She had told him, not pushing the subject any further.Teagan passed the beer off to a thankful Rico, who grimaced slightly at the warmth.
"She does have gorgeous hair." Teagan admired. She was a bit jealous, her hair didn't have that brilliant shine or that slight wave. It was just straight and dull, dark brown. She never really minded, though. "I think you guys would be pretty cute together, but maybe that's just me." she laughed happily. It felt nice to talk about this kind of stuff.
Just then, Nia and Clark called Teagan over, laughing. Apparently they had a weird game or story or something they wanted to share with her. She bumped Iain purposely. "Catch ya later, Iain. Don't be a stranger." she said as she got up and walked over to the other two who started talking rapidly.
Iain nodded. Being social wasn't really something that he was really good at, but he could try to be social. After all, he figured that he was going to be with these people for a long time now. The apocalypse lasted for a long time, which he had known from the movies. "Okay. When we stop talking over here, we can go over and talk with Clark, if you don't mind me joining you guys." He replied with a nod and smiled softly.
Smiling and sighing at the thought, he thought of Nia's auburn hair. It was really pretty. She was pretty. However, he didn't like her in that way. Mostly as a friend. Not in the kissing in the kitchen in the morning type of way. He wanted that in a relationship, everybody probably did, but he didn't want Nia. He wanted somebody else.
"Okay," Iain smiled whenever Teagan bumped him on purpose, which made him laugh a little bit, as he watched Nia and Clark wave Teagan over. Should he go over and, talk? He turned around in his spot, putting his backpack in between his feet with his notebook in his hands. As he slipped his notebook in his backpack, he grabbed one of his waters and took a sip, trying to get the dry taste out of his mouth. He was going to do it. He was going to join Teagan's little group. If Teagan could do it, so could he. If he never tried, he would never know. Walking over towards the three, he waved shyly and gave them all a smile. Nia kind of gave him a strange look, which he was waiting for. "Look who decided to join us! Iain!" She exclaimed with a warm smile.
Teagan wandered over to Nia and Clark who immediately began telling her about about this game the both knew called Paranoia. Teagan used to play this game with her friends a lot in high school, and she thought this would be a really fun game to play with this particular group; plus, it made everything feel normal.Iain came over to the group, to which Teagan gifted him with a bright smile. Nia greeted him, as well as Clark saying, "Hey man!" with a polite smile. Teagan herself went over to him, "Glad you came over here. We were just talking about a game we wanted to play with everyone." She went and sat back down next to Clark.
"Basically, we all sit in a circle. We go around and you whisper something in the person's ear next to you like 'Most likely to get pregnant out of wedlock' or 'Most attractive person'" She took a breath before continuing, "Then, the person you whispered to will say a name to answer that, but of course no one knows what the question was. So, to make it fun, you flip a coin. If it lands on tails, you tell everyone what the question was. If it lands on heads you don't, and it's the next person's turn." Teagan laughed nervously along with the other two, probably all thinking of an awkward question they got once. "What do you think? Wanna play?"
((I have an idea. We can play the game in the thread with our characters, and we don't have to make the posts very long. Maybe just them thinking about it for a second and then saying their answer, and maybe some of the reactions if the coin was flipped heads. Or we could just skip the game))
((Example: You say: Nia leaned in to Teagan and said "Prettiest eyes" I say: Teagan said "Iain" The coin was flipped and it was tails! "Nia asked who had the prettiest eyes" Teagan admitted as she blushed shyly and looked down at the table. Then, she leaned over to Stella, "Best body" she whispered))
(( i think that it would be fun if we played the game! we should do it! i'll do it in my next reply. :) ))
Iain stuffed his hands in the pockets of his jackets, watching Nia, Teagan, and Clark who was actually nice to him. He was really surprised. It all went differently in his mind. He would be kicked out and thrown onto the curb in the pouring rain like they did in the romance movies when somebody wanted to break up with the other.
As he listened to Teagan say what the game was, he nodded as he listened. It actually sounded really fun and even though he probably didn't have any good questions up his sleeve right now, he would figure out some soon. He smiled and nodded. "Yeah. We should all totally do it together. That sounds like fun." Iain replied with a nod as he went back over to his spot, ready for the game to start.
Teagan clapped her hands together with a smile, "Great! I'll go explain it to the old folks over there and try to get them to join." She got up, "The more the merrier." She said, laughing as she walked over to them.Shortly after, Stella joined them, but Rico stayed behind, doing something by himself on the other side of the campfire. "Maybe when he hears how much fun we're having, he'll join." She said as she walked back.
They formed a circle. Teagan sat in between Nia and Stella, and Teagan went first, leaning in to Stella. "Most likely to fall in love at first sight." She whispered. Stella laughed. "From what I know so far, Clark." Clark's eyes widened at his name, his curiosity growing. Teagan flipped the coin. Heads.
((Feel free to control any outcomes, reactions, or characters besides Teagan :) ))
Iain laughed because Rico didn't come, which was kind of a shame. He thought that he would really like this game a lot. Waving him over, he watched as Rico shook his head, and that was decided. He was not going to mess with Rico anymore when it came to games. Maybe he was more of a holiday game type of person?
Iain sat in between Stella and Clark. He was actually really excited, something that he had not been all day long. All day long he had been worried sick that he was going to die due to the zombies. Now, it was just like good ole times with new friends. Nothing could replace this. And when Stella said Clark's name, he stifled out a laugh, but stopped. He didn't even know what was funny or what the question was.
Stella leaned into Iain when it was his turn, his heart pounding. Stella whispered, "Most likely to die without their hair products." Iain laughed a little. "Nia." Iain replied, flipping the coin and seeing that it landed on tails. "Stella said, most likely to die without their hair products, so I said you! Congrats Nia." Nia shook her head, laughing.
Leaning into Clark, which was kind of weird to him. He didn't really want to whisper into his ear, but he had to. Thinking of a question and biting his lip, he finally figured out one. "Most likely to get kissed during this trip?" He whispered.
(( same to you too! you can any of my other characters. :) ))
((Hey sorry, I just got back from travelling!))Teagan laughed at Iain's answer to Stella's question. It was definitely accurate, though the runner up would probably be Iain himself. She smiled quietly to herself the thought as Iain whispered into Clark's ear.
Clark laughed at whatever the question was. He looked around at everyone for a moment before smirking and settling his gaze on Teagan. She felt a nervous shiver crawl up her spine, "Teagan." He said with a meaningful tone, the smirk still on his face as he watched her nervously laugh in response to hearing her name. She clenched her hands together, wondering if she wanted to know what the question was or not. By the look on his face, she decided it would be better if she didn't, though she was embarrassed that Iain knew.
Everyone else looked overly curious to know the question, to Teagan's dismay. Nia raised her eyebrows at Teagan, and Stella just grinned. The coin was flipped. Heads. Nia, Stella, and even Rico in the background groaned.
(( that sounds like fun! i'm glad that you did have fun! ))
Iain wondered what was going to be the answer to Clark's question. After all, he really wanted to know. And, he already did when he gaze landed on Teagan, but maybe that was because they were friends and maybe they had some secret code between the two of them, but then he did say Teagan's name, and that just haunted his mind. Was Clark going to kiss Teagan on this trip? He couldn't do that. He wouldn't dare do that.
Swallowing down whatever was in his throat, mostly the taste of the previous drink that he did have, he hoped and prayed that the coin was going to land on tails. That way everybody would get to know what the question was, but too bad it landed on heads. Was Teagan ever going to find out what the question was? She was going to get kissed, sometime on this trip. And why was Iain jealous? Maybe because he didn't like Clark that much. He did like him, but he wasn't the kind of guy who would go into a dark space with him. As he looked back at everybody's reaction, he laughed awkwardly at Rico's, who still wasn't playing at all because he probably thought that games like these were wimpy. And even Nia and Stella did the exact same thing. They must have really wanted to know what the question was and Iain really wanted to tell them what it was, but that was against the rules of the game.
Looking back over at everybody in the circle, Iain kind of lowered his head back down, rummaging through his bag and grabbing a smashed up granola bar. He forgot all about the box of bars that he had brought, and it was smashed. That was the best way to eat it, but it wasn't that great when he had something on his mind.
Multiple rounds went on; Teagan's name was called a few times, once when someone said "Naturally best looking" and Nia said Teagan, and a few other times, but Teagan didn't know the answer. Finally it was Teagan's turn again. Nia leaned in to Teagan, "Sweetest person." Teagan had to think for a while. Everyone was sweet in their own way; Stella was motherly, Nia was considerate, Clark was a gentleman, Rico was selfless, but from what she had seen, the most overall sweetest person was Iain. Teagan laughed, knowing her answer was going to shock everyone, "Iain." she said confidently. Nia looked at her, confused, and the coin was flipped. Tails.
Teagan laughed at the reactions. Of course, he had been very distant and kind of bratty to everyone else, but in the forest Teagan could tell that he was a lot softer than he portrayed.
Teagan thought of her question. She leaned in to Stella and whispered, "Best marriage material."
After a few more rounds everyone decided it was time for bed. They unpacked the blankets and warm clothes from the car and all gathered under the shelter. It was very small, and everyone had to lay touching side by side. It wasn't the most comfortable, but it would be nice to have so much body heat, and Teagan was sure they would get used to it.
They decided to set a watch. Rico would watch first, then Nia, Iain, Teagan, Clark, and Stella would follow in that order. Stella also decided that either she or Rico would sleep in the middle, dividing the boys and girls.
Iain probably heard his name called a few times, but he didn't really pay attention. He mostly looked at his fingers and how weird they looked in the light of the campfire. However, he did hear his name come out of Teagan's mouth one time, which made his head pop out. Looking around at everybody, he blushed a little bit, maybe a lot. He didn't know how much he did blush because it was kind of dark, but he was hoping that nobody noticed. Iain did feel his cheeks getting warmer and warmer by the second though. And even the question was a surprise when the coin landed on tails. Teagan thought that he was the sweetest person of the group. Everybody's reactions though were priceless and he wished that he had got it all on camera.
After a few rounds, they all decided to hit the hay. Grabbing his bag and setting it outside of the shelter, he looked around the shelter. They would all have to sleep pretty close to each other, which Iain didn't mind.
Iain went ahead and lied down in the shelter, looking towards the wall. He had chosen a spot by the back of the shelter. After all, it was actually pretty cozy back there. Plus, it reminded Iain of how his room was back home, way in the back of the house. It made him feel at home and he felt better than he had before.
They began to trudge through the forest. It was very beautiful. Dark, and grey, from the clouds hanging above them, red fall leaves twirling around on their branches. Teagan stopped for a moment and faced her head towards the sky. She closed her eyes, letting her hair dance around in the winds, and inhaling the scent of the incoming storm. She was loving this.
She heard Iain humming. It sounded nice, but she wasn't about to tell him. She wasn't quite at the point of complementation yet. "What song are you humming?" she asked him.
Just then, it began to drizzle. The temperature dropped quite a few degrees, and Teagan was only wearing a thin sweatshirt over her loose short sleeved shirt. She put her arms around herself in an attempt to warm up.