Junk Dreams

[Polybius]

Zeke felt Laurie's hand tighten around his when he mentioned his kill. For a moment, he wondered if she was having regrets. Her hand started quivering, but then... she accepted it. She really was on board. Amazing. It was still such an unexpected turn, but Zeke was starting to get excited about their little partnership. He wondered what would happen to her when he found the others. He supposed it all would depend on their reactions. Zeke didn't think they would like her. But that was a ways to go.

Then, Laurie asked Zeke to remove his hand. He did so while showing her a mock frown.

"Wow, Laurie, you really don't mince your words. I didn't know that I grossed you out so much."

Zeke scanned the junk heaps surrounding them. There had to be something that Laurie could use as a weapon. He noticed a glint from a nearby pile and jogged over to it. Zeke climbed the pile for a few steps, laboring to steady his footing while keeping his hold on his gun, and then bent down to grab the object with his free hand. It was an adjustable wrench, fairly big but still light. There were a few spots of rust dotting its surface, but as a whole the wrench was in surprisingly good condition. It must not have been there for too long.

Zeke returned to Laurie and held the wrench towards her handle-first.

"Here you go. Better than a flower pot, right?"

[Primrosette]

Laurie hadn't meant her words to sound like she didn't want to touch Zeke's hand at all. Unless he was ever just mocking or teasing her for what she had said. She hoped she hadn't made him think that she was disgusted by him. Okay, Zeke was a killer. She knew that some of the people here would be playing to survive. Unless there are others that just killed because they either wanted revenge or they did it for.... fun. She was more horrified by those types of people. She knew that she should be distrustful of Zeke. But now that they had an alliance; she knew that she had to trust him for now. Maybe he would betray her in the future but she could worried about that later.

"I don't think you are gross, Zeke...." She mumbled to herself under her breath as she watched him searching around and she took her bag off her shoulder to place the flowerpot back inside. She zipped it back up and she slid the bag back onto her shoulders. "There we go."

She was impressed that Zeke had managed to find something very useful for her to use. She should have searched for it herself but Zeke had been willing to look for it for her. She wondered if she hadn't been too quiet and shy at school.... Maybe she could have become friends with Zeke. She had been friends with Scotty Ward afterall. He had been an outcast for different reasons but it had strangely made her and Scotty bond with each other.

"T-Thank you, Zeke. I appreciate it." Laurie said honestly as she showed him a genuine smile and she took the wrench from him, holding it by her side. "U-Um, I'm going to keep the flowerpot. Maybe I can use it as a distraction on someone?"

You are already getting into role, Laurie. There is no going back on your words now.

"So do you have any plans on where we should go now?"  

[Polybius]

"Hm? Yeah, sure." Zeke didn't know what Laurie could do with a flower pot, but she could do what she wanted with it.

"We're going to the dump, of course. I need to find Mick, and even if he's not there anymore it could give us an idea of where to go next. We'll be able to see what happened to your friend, too."

Zeke paused and looked her over again.

"When we find him, we'll be sticking with him. He won't hurt you as long as you're with me. But you have to be cool with him, yeah? Even if he did kill your friend."

[Primrosette]

Going back to the dump? Where her friend's dead possible body could be? The gunshot that she heard did seem like Mick had actually killed Scotty. But what if Mick hadn't? What if Scotty was alive and well? What if he was running around looking for her? She shouldn't be hopeful as much as she wanted to be.

Zeke was saying that she had to be on good terms with Mick if they managed to find him. Laurie wanted to at least make Zeke trust her to behave around his friend if she wanted their alliance to work out. She still thought that Mick was a jerk back at the dump.

"A-Alright.... the dump.... yeah." She could barely say words without feeling somewhat unsure and a bit nervous. "Okay, I'll only try to get along with Mick for you, Zeke. I'm not the type to avenge people anyway."

Ask him, Laurie.

[Polybius]

Zeke put his hand on Laurie's shoulder and brought his face close to hers. He smiled down at her.

"Thanks, Laurie. If we keep getting along this well, then this alliance will work out great for both of us. I'm ready, so let's go."

He strolled past her and the junk car and made his way for the gate. Zeke realized that he was turning his back to Laurie, and that he had done so earlier without thinking about it when he went to grab the wrench. Maybe he was acting too casual around her too early. She had a lot of reason to wish him and his friends harm. Despite that, Zeke now trusted her. Well, he didn't trust her as much as he trusted that she was serious about wanting to work with him, at least for a time. Laurie didn't seem like she was capable of outright lying, either, though Zeke was still sure she was withholding some of her thoughts. Her "nevermind" moments earlier had confirmed that.

He turned to see if she was following him.

"Watch my back and tell me if I'm going the wrong way, alright?"

((Zeke Brant continued in Floundering Hopes))

[Primrosette]

Laurie glanced as Zeke was walking away from her and she didn't hold any malice towards him. She wasn't even in the mindset of hitting him over the head with the wrench and stealing his gun. No, she wanted to stay with him. She wanted things to work out well between them.

She inhaled as he turned back to her near the gate and he asked her to watch his back. That's what a partner would do, right? She had to make sure that no one would try to hurt him.

"R-Right, sure! I'll definitely do that." She said as she walked more quickly to follow him. "Just a warning, the dump isn't very.... pleasant."

((Laurie Moran continued elsewhere))