Prince of Nothing

[Rorick Skyve†]

((Maxim Kehlenbrink continued from Good Omens))

It seemed like he was in luck. When he had decided to enter this particular building, he had no idea whether or not it was already occupied by others. The map he had hadn't been that helpful either, but judging from what he had seen around him, this was most likely the 'Staff Housing Block A.' he was in. Whatever that meant for him.

But so far, it all had worked out for him, he didn't regret entering the place, not one bit. It was nothing but an empty hallway with bleak walls and even duller looking doors, yes, but at least it seemed like there was nothing for him to fear in there. Of course, this was taking for granted that there was no maniac waiting for him in one of the many rooms, some sort of Scissorman - darn, he immediately regretting the mere thought. Some distant memories of playing Clock Tower back when he was barely a teen resurfaced, making his flesh crawl a bit.

Though at the same time, it almost made him laugh, in how delightfully absurd it was. A life and death situation like this was unnerving, sure, but still not enough to make him loose it, but remembering a video game was where he became truly terrified.  Then again, said game and all of this weren't even that different in some regards, but this was not time to indulge in such peculiar thoughts.

The obvious thing to do was to search through the rooms one by one. At least he assumed there to be rooms behind all of those doors, it seemed logical to assume. Maybe, just maybe something of use could be found in there, some rations, water, tools - probably no weapons, but who knew, maybe his luck really had taken a turn for the better.

Maxim walked along the hallway, pondering which door to open first. Almost sounded like he was talking about an Advent calendar. If he was going with that, then opening the very first door was the correct thing to do. But he certainly didn't expect to find chocolate behind any of these doors and as such, it didn't really matter which one he opened first. He eventually settled for the third one on the right. There was a small scratch on the door handle, almost looked like someone had tried to carve something into it. This was as good a sign as any other for him.

He took a small breath and turned his head left and right to check if somebody was there once more. Satisfied, he finally put his hand on the handle and pushed it down.

[Malloon]

(Ben Lichter continues from Exhausted)

Ben was looking for people. He knew it was a bad idea, looking for the one thing that could reasonably be expected to kill him, but he couldn't shake the feeling that he really needed to talk to someone. Besides, he thought, most people know it's wrong to kill. Everyone he remembered from Cochise knew that. Sure, there were some bad eggs he had heard about - some kid who hunted coyotes, he seemed to recall, but even they... His thoughts trailed off. That mute girl, she'd been quick to find a weapon. It might have simply been for self-defence, he thought, but he had extreme doubts about that. Picking up a stick, or a pipe, or something - that could qualify as taking a precaution, but meticulously crafting a blade? Now that seemed like an idea from the mind of a cold and calculating killer.

He thought on this as he walked from the vehicle depot to a building on the other side of the tarmac. He crossed diagonally, instead of going straight across to a mirrored but otherwise identical building. He himself didn't know why he did this, but he was hesitant to go inside again and felt better prolonging his being outside. A fleeting image of someone chasing him down a cramped and dark hallway made him shiver. Even if being in the open made him a target for people with guns, at least he might try to dodge, out in the open, he hoped. Besides, what were the chances of there being more than one killer amongst his fellow prisoners? Kim..whatshername had a knife, after all. Given that fact, he'd really prefer staying outside where he could see her coming.

There was only one problem with that, he acknowledged silently, as he plodded along autonomously towards the building: There was no one else outside, and if he wanted to find someone else (and he really, really wanted to at the moment), he'd need to have a poke around in a few of the buildings. So, with a lump of dread in his throat, he opened the door.

"Hey", he coughed, then tried again. "HEY! ANYBODY THERE?", he called, hoping it would be enough to warrant an answer.

[Rorick Skyve†]

The door opened with a slight creak, though he had almost expected that. This place was anything but in good condition, he couldn't help but wonder how long it had been since it had last been in use by the actual staff. Then again, he had no idea what had happened to any of those people either, chances were, they had been slaughtered by the terrorists, executed just like Mr. Graham.

Slowly, the room behind said door was revealed and Maxim's initial impression was that it was just as barren and devoid of life and fantasy like the rest of what he'd seen so far. Walls that were grayish enough for him to wonder whether this was by design or if grime and dust had painted it that way over time.

His eyes kept scanning as he took a step forward into the room, discovering nothing much of interest; there was a single bed sans sheets with a nightstand next to it and a door in the back corner, which he suspected lead to a bathroom of some sort. Either way, it was clear and as such-

Somebody was shouting. Maxim heard a distant coughing, then the voice again, louder this time.

He had to think quickly, make a decision on the spot. He could not immediately identify the voice; it was male, without doubt, but that knowledge didn't really help him much. It would have been easy to turn around and spot the person in question; judging from the direction of where it came from, the guy had just come through the main entrance.

But he was already within the bedroom, hidden from immediate sight. And he'd prefer it to stay that, as long as he didn't know who the boy in question was. But the door. The door, it was still open, plain as day for the new arrival to see, goddammit. Closing it now was a huge risk, it would probably creak again and give him away immediately.

It was only a matter of time before the new arrival came in and discovered him, he had potentially lured himself into a dead end. He had to improvise.

He turned himself around by 180 degrees, now facing the open door from within the bedroom. There was no suitable hiding spot in there. The bathroom maybe? But he didn't even know if it really was a bathroom, maybe it was a storage closet, maybe it didn't even open at all or - either way, he had to try.

Taking heavy breaths, Maxim slowly moved towards the door in the far right corner of the room, keeping his eyes fixed on the opened one the entire time.

[MethodicalSlacker]

A place to rest.

[Lili Williams continued from Consuelo's Departure]

The twin dorm buildings were just across the road from the warehouse. Lili had decided to go in that direction when she stepped through the gate, figuring that each building would have many rooms inside to hide in. Approaching the two buildings, she could've made the mistake of thinking the two were identical. When she got closer, however, she could see a chair on the lawn just outside the one on her right, along with splintered pieces of a bed not too far away. Signs of a scuffle. Lili silently decided to go towards the other building.

She was only a few paces away when she realized she might have made a mistake.

"HEY! ANYBODY THERE?"

On instinct, Lili raised her nightstick in front of her, grabbing it in both hands. She was glad that she hadn't decided to put it away in her bag earlier - unzipping it and fumbling around for a weapon would reveal where she was.

Someone was looking through the building already. From the sound of their words, Lili could tell that the speaker was male, which she considered as putting her as a disadvantage. She was already weaker than around half of the girls at Cochise, so going against a boy, who were more often than not stronger than her, wouldn't be worth the risk. But what if he was friendly? More importantly, what if he was someone Lili knew? If she did know who was inside, then Lili could potentially gain her first ally. Plus, she doubted that the boy inside was looking for someone to kill: anyone snooping around for that reason would probably have been more quiet.

Lili tip-toed over to the open door, and peered around the side.

A boy was standing in the hallway, more than likely the sound of the voice she heard earlier. She couldn't tell who he was, because his back was turned to Lili, whi-

"I'd be much more careful with who you approach from behind in the future."

Lili froze, and moved back behind the wall, careful to keep out of sight. It took every ounce of willpower she had to stop from twitching nervously, so as not to make a sound, but somehow Lili managed. She decided to stay put for the time being. Once the coast was clear, and the boy was out of the hallway, she would move in. For now, she was stuck outside the building.

A place to plan.

[Malloon]

Ben waited a few more moments for an answer. Nothing. He frowned, the lump in his throat swelling in size. Someone should have heard that, if there was somebody inside.

Perhaps someone did, and simply decided not to answer. Or couldn't. Ben shivered, and took an involuntary step backwards. "Ok, calm", he thought. "Let's think for a moment.". He took a deep breath. If someone was inside, he was sure he'd be able to see them coming a mile away, and he had the open door at his back. If he had to run, he could. It was a bit dark with no lights on, but the light coming through the door behind him let him see quite a ways into the building. It was a straight and plain corridor, with doors on either side. Further down he saw what looked like a small lobby, with benches, and more corridor after that. The doors on either side were mostly closed, with a few being either ajar or open.

Ben waited a little longer as he took all this in. He still saw nobody. That left two options, he reasoned:

One: There was nobody here. Frankly, he thought this was the most likely option. His classmates wouldn't... well, none of his classmates he could think of (besides the obvious one) would want to kill him, and would have answered him by now. This option was infinitely preferable to...

Two: An ambush. Unlikely, but Ben had done enough roleplaying to know how effective an ambush could be. He imagined that they'd wait until he was past the door they were hiding behind and trap him in the corridor.

As unlikely as that seemed to Ben, he couldn't get the idea out of his mind. He swallowed, the lump now feeling like an orange that had gotten stuck in his throat. "Ok, it's ok", he tried reassuring himself. He didn't have to go down the corridor. He was looking for people, for a person, after all, and if there was nobody there, there was no reason to put himself at risk. No matter how small. An idea popped into his head. He didn't like it. There was a reason to go down the corridor. He wanted to survive, after all: live to see the end of the game, get rescued, escape, or something. And for that, he'd need supplies, and some way to defend himself. There might be supplies in here.

Supplies. The word suddenly made him aware of the duffel bag on his shoulder. He'd been so preoccupied with leaving the depot and finding, well, anybody, that he hadn't even taken stock of what the terrorists had given him to survive. Besides the etch-a-sketch, of course. He remembered a green box of some sort, a compass and some kind of food bars. He hesitated for a moment before sliding the bag off his shoulder and sitting down against the left hand wall, careful not to take his eyes off the corridor completely. "Might as well know what I need", he thought, as he began a more thorough inspection of the contents of his duffel bag.

[Rorick Skyve†]

Maxim halted, mere feet away from the other door. Even going so far as to hold his own breath, which was proving to be not quite easy, given he was more than a little on edge, he tried to listen for any further noise coming from outside the room. Maybe he could tell whether or not the other person was approaching.

The voice had stopped shouting. Probably an indicator that whoever was there was now assuming to be alone. No footsteps either, just a muffled noise that was over too quickly for Maxim to determine what it was. Could it be, had the other boy left the building again? No, no, the last bit of noise he had heard clearly came from within the hallway. Maybe they had gone into one of the other rooms?

He couldn't be sure and if he was perfectly honest with himself, that was starting to annoy him. It was the same as with that idiot Ben earlier, the same as with those two girls back in the asylum: Maxim perching and cowering in his corner, trying to hide, like he was a rodent trying to get away from a snake. He had no idea what was truly going on, always remained passive.

It had kept him safe so far, kept him sure. But as he had understood while talking to Ben earlier, staying by himself was not an option in the long run. He had to try and find someone useful, someone both trustworthy and armed, in the best of cases. Though maybe one would have to do.

Maxim looked back at the door he was moving towards. It promised safety at least. But nothing else.

His glance wandered back to the door he came through. The more risky choice. But the outcome was potentially far more rewarding. As for the risk? He had to consider that the boy in question had announced his presence when entering. If he really harbored murderous intent, then why do that? It didn't add up, another thing that made him lean more towards trying to come into contact with said person. Then again, what if that was his plan though, lure people out like that, make them believe he was harmless?

Maxim lowered his head a bit, exhaling audibly. He knew he had made his choice already. The odds were in his favor or so he felt. Unless he was unlucky again. Like he always was. But doubts wouldn't get him anywhere.

Taking an insecure step at first, it took him another five seconds until he managed to convince himself to follow through with his plan. He strolled towards the open door, rubbing his neck for a moment. He had to stay calm, this would be fine. He wouldn't be the one running this time, he had control of this.

He stepped out of the doorframe, bit his lip, the turned his head towards where the exit was.

[MethodicalSlacker]

The silence of the moment was broken by the bass drum beat of Lili's heart in her skull. She was totally blind to what was going on inside the building, or even what was going on just behind her wall. The only separation in between what was in there and out here, with her, was in a hollow, weathered wall. It made sense to her; so far, nothing in Spiderland, no momentary peace or calm, had been built on a strong foundation.

When she heard the noise, then, of a bag being set down on the ground, she knew the coast was not yet clear. Someone had just set their stuff down, and was starting to ruffle through the contents just in front of the door to the building, standing between Lili and peace.

Lili took a moment to add up what she knew in her head. Whoever had shouted earlier likely had no intent, or at least no obvious intent, though to what extent that could be used as a gauge of anything was up in the air, right? After all, Kaitlyn had been absolutely fine before the bell rang, but that was enough to send her off of the deep end, and Eye-patch had looked utterly peaceful before she turned that gun on Lili, so would she wind up making the same mistake in the end, falling victim to someone with every gear in their body wound up and every antennae tuned to "KILL," wouldn't she? It would take, and take, and take, until there was nothing left, no meat to pick from her bones. The sun would rise from the sea, kicking up a hurricane, and set on the other side with an impact that would shake her to the core.

All at once, Lili's thoughts spilled out of her brain and through her ears, pooling at her feet in a viscous soup. They dribbled out through her nose and her eyes, leaving trails down her face. She felt the weight of the drops of thought on her clothes, the metallic flow as each drop spun down and fell off of her face. Then, in a single moment of lucidity, she blinked once, and it was all gone.

...what?

Where had she been, in her train of thought? Did it matter anymore? She already knew what she was going to do.

Lili was going to turn the corner.

She had started to breath silently through her mouth, the same air going in and out in short intervals. Her mouth had opened softly, unconsciously, moments ago, sometime when she was lost in thought, though she could never know exactly when. Gripping the nightstick again in both hands, she felt the muscles in her feet tense up, threatening to root her to the spot like they had when she was in front of the warehouse. Not this time, she thought as her left foot picked up from the ground, and never again.

She swiftly rounded the corner, her eyes widening as she saw who had been sitting on the other side.

"Ben?" Lili said, in an astonished half-whisper, the words flowing forth from her mouth before she had a chance to reel them back in.

[Malloon]

There was quite a bit more in the duffel bag than he thought. Moving quickly from item to item, he counted three bottles of water, at least eight high-energy survival ration food bars, two loaves of bread, that one green metal box, which was a first aid kit  apparently, a flashlight, a compass, a... book? Forgetting to keep the corridor in the corner of his eye, Ben lifted it out of the bag and read its title. "Mr Danya's Guide to Survival". A flood of irritation hit him, momentarily dispelling all anxiety and fear about his surroundings. They were mocking him. The book, whatever information it might contain, wasn't put there to be helpful. It was put there to give the terrorists another way of laughing at them while they... A slow tide of primordial dread washed over him as the irritation ebbed away, but he deliberately finished his thought. "...while they died.". His jaw tightened, not from anger, but from resolve. "Not me, you... you bastards", he ruminated. "I'm going to get out, and take as many people with me as I can!"

He might have sat there longer contemplating his situation had he not been interrupted by footsteps and the appearance of a figure from the third door on the right - exactly where there shouldn't have been one. Despite being given a scare that almost made him jump out of his boots, Ben's knees immobilized and he only managed to slide himself along the wall somewhat. His vocal cords tightened and only let a short, muted grunt escape his lips. In the dim light he couldn't identify the face of the person before a second incident made him spasm anew. From the entrance a half-whispering voice startled him into diving forward over his boots. Panicking, he turned onto his back and quickly looked up at the second arrival. It was... Lili. For the briefest of moments he relaxed, while the word "friendly" crossed his mind. Then he panicked again, remembering the figure in the corridor who Lili's arrival had distracted him from, and did a curious combination of jumping to his feet, turning to look at the person and backing away towards Lili and the entrance. This made him stumble, and he steadied himself against the wall as he moved back.

But his flight instinct was tempered after only two paces, for he now managed to get a good look at the figure's face, and in this he was even more relieved than with Lili. It was Maxim. And Maxim was a friend. "Maxim! Thank God! You're ok! I'm so glad.", he cried, as the words left his mouth like the tension left his shoulders, which he hadn't even realized he'd bunched up. He turned to Lili: "Lili, it's so good to see you."

[Rorick Skyve†]

Maxim's father often told him that taking risks was not something one had to necessarily avoid. One of his former friends had told him the same, years or so ago, namely that he 'should stop being such a pussy and grow a pair.' Maxim certainly didn't miss him.

Still, he had to agree with both in this case: Whoever was sitting against the wall there, being busy with his bag, did seem familiar to him. He couldn't quite make out his facial features yet, what with him not looking at him and the hallway being poorly lit., but something about him seemed -

There was another noise, some other noise coming from up ahead. Maxim jumped a little and lifted his head, breaking his gaze away from the familiar looking boy and towards where the noise came from. He immediately spotted them, spotted her, some girl coming straight through the entrance. He didn't recognize her, but he didn't need to since the first thing that caught his attention was a longish object in her hands, some sort of stick or bludgeon; he couldn't exactly make out what it was, but it didn't look harmless.

He instinctively took a step back, pondering about what to do. The girl herself didn't look particularly intimidating. Rather small, compared to his own size, skinny too. In theory, there was no way she was going to overpower both him and that other boy with only that stick thing she had. Unless of course, it was a trap and that other boy was with her and -

The other boy reacted now. It seemed like he was just as surprised as Maxim was. His movements were hasty, clumsy, supporting himself against the wall, stumbling around and - hold on, was that Benjamin?

He had only gotten a brief look at his face, but yes, it did look like it. No wonder he had seemed familiar, it was Ben. Seemed he was lucky. He could put that guy under the category 'friendly acquaintances' at least. If that girl had any bad intentions, he and Ben could easily work together to stop her from-

Well, never mind. Didn't seem to be necessary. Apparently, Benjamin knew that other girl as well, judging from his reaction. Jeez, the guy certainly was happy.

Maxim made no effort to show his own relief, instead just taking a few steps forward, until he was only a few feet away from his friend. He  limply raised  a hand as  a greeting. "Hey."

He glanced over Ben's shoulder, giving the other arrival a skeptical look. "She a friend of yours?"

[MethodicalSlacker]

Where there was once only one, there was now two. Another boy appeared in the doorway, which initially set Lili on edge, but after a few moments it became obvious that he was friendly. Maxim was his name, according to Ben. Ben's own reaction to Lili's appearance startled her, but she quickly reconciled it in her mind as a gut reaction. She could not afford to assume otherwise. Regardless, she found cause to relax, her grip on her nightstick loosening.

"I'm really happy to see you too, Ben," Lili said, smiling genuinely for the first time she had all day, "You're, like, the first person I've seen today that I know." She turned and looked at Maxim once more, now standing just a few feet away inside the building. She gave him a welcoming grin, being not sure what to say as an icebreaker. What was most important to her was that she was now, for the moment, in the company of friends.

"You're, like, friends with Ben too?" She asked Maxim, "Nice to meet you, I'm Lili."

The orange sun setting on the horizon glinted off the walls of the building, reminding Lili just how long of a day she had had so far. She was beginning to feel herself get tired, having to stifle a yawn that crept up seemingly from the realization itself. Her eyes began to droop, a whole day's constant movement creeping up on her in an instant. She leaned against the wall opposite to the one Ben was sitting against, looking at Ben once more. He looked, thankfully, unharmed, as did Maxim. Lili was glad that he had made it through the day unharmed. If anything had happened to one of her friends, she wasn't sure how she'd be able to react.

"Who'd you guys see today?" Lili asked, running her hand through her hair, "Just out of curiosity, y'know?"

[Malloon]

"Where there are friends, there is hope everlasting." Ben grinned, both at the cheesy line, remembered from "Yonder in the Midnight Grove", and at how it was true. So completely true. He looked at the three of them, awash in orange glow, and felt certain that they would make it. As friends fighting for each other, they would survive and escape the island.

Well, Lili and Maxim didn't know each other yet. But all in good time. "I know Lili from the park", he told Maxim. "I fly kites, she flies kites, you know." He sank back down beside his duffel bag, still grinning somewhat stupidly at each of them. "Maxim is the one who introduced me to tabletop games", he said to Lili, gesturing to him, then stuffing the book, which had fallen to the floor during his impromptu gymnastics, back into the bag. It didn't bother him any more.

Then Lili asked her question, and some of the glow from the sun seemed to fade, the shadows lengthening as it continued to sink. They were still in danger. He couldn't forget that. Yet, he was still glad Lili had asked, since he had almost forgotten to tell them about her. And they needed to know.

He grimaced. "I woke up in a jeep in the vehicle depot across from here. I can't remember exactly how long I stayed in there, feeling sick. Being sick. I heard someone smash a window above me and saw that mute girl, Kim-something - I've been trying to remember her name since I saw her - using the smashed glass to make a dagger. That seemed awfully calm and, I don't know, calculating, to me, so to tell the truth I've been afraid of her showing up ever since I left the building. I'd watch out if I saw her."

[Rorick Skyve†]

Maxim simply nodded in Lili's direction. That would have to do for courtesies. She and Ben were friends, good enough for him. The ally of an ally is an ally, something along those lines. Though he had slight doubts about how much use she'd actually bring to the table. Didn't look like much, from a physical standpoint. Maybe she had brains to make up for it.

He listened and watched the other two in silence, waiting until they had said their piece. Kimiko. Right, the mute, even he knew about her. They didn't say that still waters run deep for no reason. He'd keep Benjamin's warning in mind, that was for sure.

Maxim looked at Lili. "To answer your question, our friend Ben here is not the first of his kind I've come across so far." Was he trying to make a joke? Maybe, didn't seem like one the other two would be able to pick up on it though. Probably better to simply get to the point.

"Ben Fields, met him not too long ago. Maybe ten minutes. Seemed a little sketchy to me, to be perfectly honest." He brought a finger to his throat, idly stroking it with his thumb. He was really starting to feel thirsty. Maybe, if he got lucky, he could ask for a swig or two from Ben's water supply, keep his own untouched for as long as possible.

"I'd avoid him. Same with the asylum, the big building across the bridge." The thought of it alone made him feel a little uneasy once more, as much as he hated to admit it. He quickly continued speaking.

"Got nothing other than that. Didn't find anything useful so far either. Though who knows, maybe this place here holds some useful stuff." Some rare loot. Just as long as there'd be no bossfight.

Jesus, he had to snap out of that jokey mood.

[MethodicalSlacker]

Ben smiled brightly, quoting a silly line from something he read, and everything began to settle back into place. Lili felt in that moment, for the first time since she woke up, at peace. The name he brought up wasn't familiar, Kim-whatever, but the threat that Ben claimed she posed was enough to bring her back to reality. She had to keep in mind the realness of her situation, no matter how comfy she got. There was a girl out there who had given herself a fatal weapon - a shard of glass, like Lily had - and who couldn't be reasoned with. She was mute: any conversation would be one directional. Lili couldn't try to account for something like that.

Maxim, the new kid, brought up someone Lili knew: the other Ben, of the Fields. Lili folded her hands in front of her as Maxim described how he had appeared to him. Ben had always been a voice of reason to Lili, someone she could talk to when things got shaky without the conversation getting too personal. She didn't peg him as the kind to start acting crazy right away.

Lili waited for the two to add on more people they've seen. The awkward silence that followed when it was apparent that they hadn't met anyone else sent a wave of cold into her chest, one she couldn't quite explain. Deep down, she felt thankful that they hadn't come into harm's way, but on the surface she felt jealous of how easy it had been for them so far.

"I've drawn the short stick here, I guess?" Lili said, shrugging her shoulders, "I've run into five people so far, and none of them have been, like, very much willing to be  friends of mine, I'll tell you that much. There was this girl with an eye-patch who pointed a gun at me after I woke up, then on the bridge there was this Kaitlyn girl who wanted to trade with me, a dude named Alan who wanted to do some resistance thing, Scout, and the other Lily was at that radio tower thing over there." She pointed at the beacon towering high in the warm light of the evening.

"None of them, like, hurt me though," Lili reassured, laughing nervously as she remembered just how close she had been to not being here - the memory of the gun's muzzle still fresh in her mind, "And I even got some nice stuff from the trading, look!" She un-clipped the light saber from her belt and drew the plastic blade, straightening its pale green shaft and holding it up towards the sky.

"This was Alan's," She explained, "Gave it to me for a protein bar and a penny, and threw in a protein bar of his own for some reason. People're weird, y'know?"

[Malloon]

Ben frowned slightly in confusion when Maxim said he'd met another "kind" of his, then got the joke when he mentioned "Ben" Fields. The other Ben. He didn't laugh, though, and his look of confusion just increased. He crossed his arms over his knees, which were drawn up towards, though not all the way to, his chin, and leaned his head back slightly. Ben Fields? Ben Fields? Surely not. Well, ok, he didn't hang around with him any more, but he saw him sometimes in the hallways and usually tried to say hello. Ben - that is, him, Squirrel (Geez, he'd not thought of the nickname that was used to distinguish between them in a really long time) - had been taken under Ben's - Ben Fields' - wing in middle school. He'd protected him from bullies who made fun of him for hanging around with his sister so much. As much as he'd resented the bullying, he knew that without Benjamin Fields, it'd have been a lot worse. As much as he trusted Maxim as a friend, he owed Ben the benefit of the doubt, at the very least.

He listened to the rest of what Maxim had to say. Avoiding the asylum? So that's what it was. So, avoiding the building that was, for all intents and purposes, a big scary haunted house? No problem there. Searching the rest of this building for supplies? He'd been about to do so himself, against his gut instinct no less!  It was a good idea, especially now that they could watch each other's backs. Maybe they should wait until the morning for that, though. It was getting dark.

Than Lili chimed in, and from how she told it, it sounded like she'd had a long and tiring day. Looking at her more closely, she did indeed look spent, leaning against the wall as she did. None of the people she described sounded familiar to Ben, though he did remember seeing the girl with the eye patch in school. It wasn't as if you could forget seeing someone like that. Listening to Lili's story, Ben felt sorry for her, for what she had gone through until now, and alone at that. But he also felt a little relieved. He had been sure that his classmates would know killing was evil and wrong, but buried in the back of his mind there had been the fear that he had misjudged them. Hence the reassurances. But here he had proof. Five people, none of them friendly, apparently, and none of them having actively tried to kill Lili. The girl with the eye patch had come the closest, it sounded like, though even she had thought better of it, it seemed.

Lili was showing them the thing she'd gotten from Alan. He recognized it was a toy lightsaber, from Star Wars. He'd never seen the movies, but one couldn't be part of a tabletop roleplaying group for more than a year without them coming up sometime. This had included a detailed explanation of the most important parts, after he'd admitted he didn't know what on earth they were talking about.

"Yeah", he said, in answer to Lili's last sentence. "Weird" was indeed what he'd describe that trade with Alan as. He got why Lili hadn't wanted to join Alan's "resistance". As much as the general idea appealed to him, someone as seemingly random as Alan wouldn't make for a very reliable teammate. "You sound like you've had a rough day. You should probably, you know, get some rest. In fact," - he glanced outside - "we should all get some rest. Or at least stay put until morning. Then we can look for supplies." He surprised himself a little at his confidence when uttering these words. They had come, well, naturally, as if he'd been talking with his sister instead of his friends, but it was clear that Lili needed to lie down and, possibly, sleep."We can search better with a little sunlight coming through the windows, anyway." There was something nagging at him, something to do with the night. He'd think on it later, he decided. He turned to Maxim. "Maybe we should go in one of these rooms. Get a door between us and the outside. Did you see a room we could use, by any chance?"

[Rorick Skyve†]

Maxim let out a sigh. He was beginning to feel weary and all this incessant talking was doing nothing to keep him focused. This Lili, she seemed to have a habit of babbling. Either that or it was her somewhat bubbly attitude that threw him off. The casualness in her tone, that overall sense of optimism and carelessness she exuded. He didn't like it. Neither did he like the enthusiasm with which she presented that - thing. A toy lightsaber, apparently. Hell, the world was coming to an end out there and she got all excited over a toy. It was enough to make him grimace slightly in disgust.

Or maybe he was reading too much into things, misjudging her because of his current state of mind. Being thirsty didn't help much either. Whatever was the case, he decided it was time to try and hatch out and actual plan of some sort, they couldn't just stand around and have a hen party like this forever.

Benjamin spoke up before he could though and turned his head towards him again. Now this was more like it. He seemed to at least try to steer the group a little. Maxim could appreciate the effort at least.

"You might be right, it is getting late." He glanced towards the entrance, crossing his arms. Sunlight was slowly dying out. Yeah, no time to be going out again, too easy to get ambushed out there in the soon-to-be-dark. Still, he had to disagree on waiting to search the place until morning.

"I don't know about you, but I am sure I recall having a flashlight in here." He patted the bag in question. "We could still give this place a search, the sooner we get things done, the better." He cleared his throat, pausing for a moment to recollect his thoughts, then continued. "Right, your question. See the room back there with the open door? Seems decent enough, has a bed in it and maybe a bathroom as well, haven't checked yet. Might be more rooms like it in here, so I think we shouldn't have to worry about that."

It seemed almost strange, really. The prospect of just going to sleep at night, despite knowing what their situation was like. He recounted all the times he had read stories with people being stabbed in their sleep. Or shot or strangled, suffocated, enough ways to do it. Point was, it wasn't safe, so something had to be done about it.

"Searching aside, I say we should have someone keep watch during the night, yes? Maybe sleep in shifts, something like that. Seems like the smart thing to do."