((Luanne Grasset continued from Sold))
The patrol boat sat still in the night, ocean waves softly lapping up against its hull. Its spotlight shone into the sky like a beacon, drowning out the stars. The ship's interior was oppressive-feeling - martial, even - but calm. It was peaceful.
Gunshots and screams echoed out from the sea.
She stood alone inside the boat's cabin. She was soaked in seawater. She had a towel wrapped around her shoulders for warmth and also to block the view of the cameras, because both her blouse and her Supreme brand shirt were white and she really wasn't at all interested in being forced into a wet t-shirt contest by weirdo perv listicle authors, especially after nearly drowning offscreen during an ambiguous suicide attempt which was edited out of her final TV cut for being too depressing. All the water in her hair was making it impossible for her to hold her head straight. In her shaking hand, she was holding a small, broken rum bottle. Her eyes were red. She was staring down at a shattered computer monitor. Around the monitor, a few speckles of pink glitter shone in the electric lights glinting through the windows from outside.
She looked like she was going to either scream, fall asleep, or burst into tears.
The Los Angeles County Museum on Fire
middle of night 2 (open (i guess...........))
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Courtography
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(Caleb Bloch continued from The Taste of Salt)
It was night now.
He'd spent the rest of the day drying himself out a bit, but it was tough. He'd spent several hours wrapping his otherwise naked body in the towel Larry had given him to let his clothes dry out inside one of the smaller vessels of the flotilla. It only helped a little. He'd eventually gotten dressed in the slightly less damp clothes and moved on to trying to find another place to hide. The feel of the clothes clinging to his skin made him want to crawl out of his skin. He hated it. It was so tight and the rubbing of his skin against the wet denim was making his legs start to itch.
And that wasn't even getting into what it felt like to put back on damp underwear.
Anyway, this ship looked good enough. Importantly, it wasn't a danger zone and it also wasn't the shop boat that the mentor had said to avoid.
He walked across the deck in slow steps towards the cabin door. He put his right hand up against it but didn't open it. Was this going to be like the yacht all over again? That had sucked. Hopefully it was empty.
Caleb sighed in annoyance.
It was night now.
He'd spent the rest of the day drying himself out a bit, but it was tough. He'd spent several hours wrapping his otherwise naked body in the towel Larry had given him to let his clothes dry out inside one of the smaller vessels of the flotilla. It only helped a little. He'd eventually gotten dressed in the slightly less damp clothes and moved on to trying to find another place to hide. The feel of the clothes clinging to his skin made him want to crawl out of his skin. He hated it. It was so tight and the rubbing of his skin against the wet denim was making his legs start to itch.
And that wasn't even getting into what it felt like to put back on damp underwear.
Anyway, this ship looked good enough. Importantly, it wasn't a danger zone and it also wasn't the shop boat that the mentor had said to avoid.
He walked across the deck in slow steps towards the cabin door. He put his right hand up against it but didn't open it. Was this going to be like the yacht all over again? That had sucked. Hopefully it was empty.
Caleb sighed in annoyance.
Luanne did not scream, fall asleep, or burst into tears. Instead, she shuffled closer to the broken computer. The... box thing? Console? Computer case. The big brick-shaped thing with the power button. The thing that you didn't have if you were using a Mac. Or whatever. But anyways, the thing's case was kind of cracked open a little bit, and she could see some glitter coating the siding around the opening, yadda yadda yadda. So that meant Pippi had probably done something to it.
She leant over and tried to peer inside. Couldn't really make much out of anything. The light coming in from outside wasn't at a good angle for seeing inside the box, and she needed her flashlight at as close to full battery for reasons she wasn't going to disclose until she needed to. But she needed to know what Pippi had been doing, and so she placed the broken bottle she was holding onto the box and nearly blindly stuck her hand in through the crack like she assumed Pippi had, but then stopped at the last second.
What if she got electrocuted? Luanne didn't want to get electrocuted. Maybe, like, ten minutes ago she would have cared slightly less, but not any more. Because this was a clue. This was something to hold on to. Something she could actually use. So all hope was not in fact lost, and just dying from sticking her hand into a computer immediately after finding something to be optimistic about would suck. She was still dripping with water, and like, sometimes she heard about people dying from dropping toasters into bathtubs, so like, by the same principle as that worked, it would probably be extra-lethal, she thought.
So she was just gonna wait in here until she was dry enough to feel confident that she wasn't a good conductor.
She cleared her throat absentmindedly, still leaning over the computer.
She leant over and tried to peer inside. Couldn't really make much out of anything. The light coming in from outside wasn't at a good angle for seeing inside the box, and she needed her flashlight at as close to full battery for reasons she wasn't going to disclose until she needed to. But she needed to know what Pippi had been doing, and so she placed the broken bottle she was holding onto the box and nearly blindly stuck her hand in through the crack like she assumed Pippi had, but then stopped at the last second.
What if she got electrocuted? Luanne didn't want to get electrocuted. Maybe, like, ten minutes ago she would have cared slightly less, but not any more. Because this was a clue. This was something to hold on to. Something she could actually use. So all hope was not in fact lost, and just dying from sticking her hand into a computer immediately after finding something to be optimistic about would suck. She was still dripping with water, and like, sometimes she heard about people dying from dropping toasters into bathtubs, so like, by the same principle as that worked, it would probably be extra-lethal, she thought.
So she was just gonna wait in here until she was dry enough to feel confident that she wasn't a good conductor.
She cleared her throat absentmindedly, still leaning over the computer.
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Courtography
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Screw it. He opened the door and stepped inside.
Caleb heard what sounded like a cough as he entered the room, but he wasn't totally sure. He could just be paranoid again. Maybe he was cracking. That happened to people sometimes.
Sadly it was dark, so he had to trust his senses other than vision since his flashlight was still in his bag. He wondered if it even worked now after the dunk in the water.
Should he say something or not. If he said something and no one was there he would look like such a fool. But if he said nothing then if someone was there they might think he was trying to sneak up on them and kill them and he wasn't doing that either.
"Who's?" he started to ask, the word there just being mouthed after it. He hated when this happened, when he started to say something and then just stopped because of some unknown brain reason.
Caleb heard what sounded like a cough as he entered the room, but he wasn't totally sure. He could just be paranoid again. Maybe he was cracking. That happened to people sometimes.
Sadly it was dark, so he had to trust his senses other than vision since his flashlight was still in his bag. He wondered if it even worked now after the dunk in the water.
Should he say something or not. If he said something and no one was there he would look like such a fool. But if he said nothing then if someone was there they might think he was trying to sneak up on them and kill them and he wasn't doing that either.
"Who's?" he started to ask, the word there just being mouthed after it. He hated when this happened, when he started to say something and then just stopped because of some unknown brain reason.
Someone spoke, and Luanne's jaw wired itself shut and her eyes shot open wide. She didn't recognize the voice. Sure as heck wasn't Pippi. Sounded like a boy. She didn't know if she could afford to deal with anyone, let alone a boy, until she found Pippi. She needed time to do important things, and like, boys did things like punching their friends for fun, and that wasn't what she needed right now, and, and, what if he was going to kill her, or what if he was someone like that Junji guy?
She stopped breathing.
She didn't know how close he was. He was somewhere near the room's entrance that led outside. He was somewhere to her right, on the other side of the room. Behind her there was a door leading deeper into the ship. She couldn't stay here. She wanted to know what the deal was with the computer but she wasn't gonna be able to check it now, so, okay, okay, just do something, okay, sorry, just distract him and run, okay.
She pulled herself away from the computer, and then in her hand she grabbed the towel that was wrapped around her. She slammed the cloth, like a whip, into the computer console, letting go mid-swing. The towel, and the broken bottle atop the console, were both sent careening through the air in some direction towards something, a wall probably, she wasn't gonna stick around to find out. She let the momentum of the swing carry her until she was facing the interior door. And then she ran. Deeper into the ship. And then eventually out onto the deck on the opposite side. And then onto the jetties. And then she kept running until she thought she was alone.
And then something from a few hours ago clicked in the back of her mind.
((She was pretty sure she knew where to find Pippi.))
She stopped breathing.
She didn't know how close he was. He was somewhere near the room's entrance that led outside. He was somewhere to her right, on the other side of the room. Behind her there was a door leading deeper into the ship. She couldn't stay here. She wanted to know what the deal was with the computer but she wasn't gonna be able to check it now, so, okay, okay, just do something, okay, sorry, just distract him and run, okay.
She pulled herself away from the computer, and then in her hand she grabbed the towel that was wrapped around her. She slammed the cloth, like a whip, into the computer console, letting go mid-swing. The towel, and the broken bottle atop the console, were both sent careening through the air in some direction towards something, a wall probably, she wasn't gonna stick around to find out. She let the momentum of the swing carry her until she was facing the interior door. And then she ran. Deeper into the ship. And then eventually out onto the deck on the opposite side. And then onto the jetties. And then she kept running until she thought she was alone.
And then something from a few hours ago clicked in the back of her mind.
((She was pretty sure she knew where to find Pippi.))
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Courtography
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The answer was that no one was there anymore.
Some noise and some flying debris and the other person was gone.
That was fine. Caleb wasn't hurt.
It was Survival of the Fittest. Not being killed, surviving, was literally the name of the game.
Whoever it was decided to follow that rule, just like he had been.
Still, it was weird. Normally if someone left the room right when one entered that was considered offensive.
Whatever. It was fine. If he survived this place he'd have plenty of time to talk to the people that mattered.
It was time to leave. No point hanging around a ship that people knew he was at.
(Caleb Bloch continued elsewhere)
Some noise and some flying debris and the other person was gone.
That was fine. Caleb wasn't hurt.
It was Survival of the Fittest. Not being killed, surviving, was literally the name of the game.
Whoever it was decided to follow that rule, just like he had been.
Still, it was weird. Normally if someone left the room right when one entered that was considered offensive.
Whatever. It was fine. If he survived this place he'd have plenty of time to talk to the people that mattered.
It was time to leave. No point hanging around a ship that people knew he was at.
(Caleb Bloch continued elsewhere)