EVIL IS A HUMAN INVENTION

[STELLA SCOUT]

land of heroes. it's all yours when you're dead and gone.

There were only two wires that matched the description in the manual image. One was black and one was blue. And only one, when hooked up properly, would extract the necessary power to turn on the walkie talkie. So there was a fifty-fifty chance she would pick the right one. Stella liked those odds about as much as she liked being cooped up in a building surrounded by potential murderers. Fifty-fifty odds basically meant “eh, you might get it right, you might not”. And there was no way to tell, no way to sway those odds in either direction. Holding the disassembled walkie talkie in one hand, she picked up the instruction manual with the other and studied the picture for the tenth time. It depicted the inside of the electronic from the back, as if the back panel had been taken off. To anyone else it might have looked like a battery, a mess of wires stemming from all different directions, and several labels with letters corresponding to descriptions in the adjacent paragraph. But to Stella, it looked exactly like instructions on how to rewire an extremely old school walkie talkie - that had been sitting on it’s shelf in the general store for as long as she could remember- with a messed up battery pocket, into a fully functioning, communicating walkie talkie. Only, two wires matched the description on the manual image and there was a fifty-fifty chance it would be the one she chose. With a heavy-hearted sigh, Stella put down the manual and picked the blue wire, closing her eyes for good measure.

“Ow! Jesus-mother-” Swearing, Stella dropped the walkie talkie. The second the frayed copper ends of the blue wire came in contact with the batter head, a spark flashed, sending a sharp shooting pain straight through her finger. Stella brought her finger to her lips, trying to suck out the burning sensation that still tingled through her hand. This wasn’t the fire time she’d been mildly electrocuted but she still hadn’t really gotten used to it. There was something especially alarming about it. Even if you anticipated it- counting down and everything - even if you braced yourself for it it was always a shock, both literally and figuratively. It didn’t hurt more then she thought it would but it always hurt… surprisingly. However annoying, she had to admit, it was a nice change from the dull, persistent ache of what her life was at the moment. Nothing like a little shock to bring her back to life.

Stella examined her fingertip. Peach, pink and calloused - from her days working on the farm - just as it always was. Other then the lingering tingled, a small ghost of the pain, it was perfectly fine. She let her hand fall into her lap and looked around her. Sitting, cross-legged, in the middle of aisle 6: electronics and lightbulbs; several opened packages of walkie-talkies, their contents strew about in a half moon around her. The newer versions had put up less then a fight, their parts fairly fresh from the factory and functioning just as well. It was these older ones, a little rusted, even in their plastic protection, that were proving to be somewhat of their own little war. Stella exhaled, irritated, blowing a lock of hair away from her face.

we know how to make life go on.

© SUMMER AT A THOUSAND FIREFLIES

[KATHLEEN ROSS]

have a little faith in me,

I CAN SEE IT IN YOUR EYES YOU'RE SCARED, ALL THESE THINGS THEY FORCE YOU TO DO AREN'T FAIR. I'M HERE TO CHASE AWAY THESE TEARS AND BABY, WE CAN CHASE AWAY THESE FEARS. BECAUSE SOMETIMES, BABY, YOU FALL ON YOUR BACK BUT GIRL, YOU'RE THREE TIMES A LADY I'LL EVER HAVE AND YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW IT'S TRUE THIS IS A FIGHT A REFUSE TO LOSE. AND I'LL RUN HAVE A LITTLE FAITH IN ME. YOU'RE SCARED AND ALONE AND I'LL RUN. THIS IS WHERE WE BOTH BREAK FREE I'LL BRING YOU HOME, YOU HOME, YOU HOME. I CAN HEAR IT IN YOUR VOICE YOU CARE, LET ME RUN MY FINGERS IN AND THROUGH YOUR HAIR, I'LL KEEP YOU COMPANY AT NIGHT AND BABY, I'M HERE TO MAKE THIS RIGHT. --------------------

The worst thing about being trapped in a building was… well, being trapped in a building. On the one hand, it was safe, a lot better than being killed or captured or whatever else had happened to less fortunate people. On the other hand, being stuck with a lot of people who were already starting to get really annoyed with her was definitely not Kath's idea of fun. Usually it took people more time to realize she was an irritating (albeit adorable) parasite… but then again, usually life wasn't so stressful. Or, she supposed, stressful for everyone else. It hadn't hit her the same way it had hit everyone who had any sanity left, and that might've been the reason for her latest round of self-loathing. Not that she ever lost that feeling, but some days were better than others, and quite frankly, today sucked.

So what was an energetic young woman supposed to do with nowhere to hide? Simple - wander around until she found someone to pester who wasn't likely to threaten her life. This last bit was a new rule, added to her short list of personal guidelines within the past few days. Everyone was so darn touchy lately! She supposed it wasn't entirely her fault that no one wanted to deal with her Pollyanna-esque tendencies, but the combination of boredom and self-hatred was making her go stir-crazy at an alarming rate. It would be one thing if someone would give her something to do, but she was starting to think that the odds of that happening were absurdly minuscule. Like it or not, Kath was dead weight, and the best she could do was stay out of the way and hope things went back to normal as soon as possible.

She wandered down an aisle, not really thinking about anything, and spotted something that would make an especially excellent distraction. This was the first sign things were about to go south in a hurry. The array of communications devices, the girl sitting in the midst of them who looked as though something quite awful had just happened to her… it was too much for Kath to ignore. "Are you okay?" she asked. It was pretty obvious that they girl wasn't okay, but she could hope otherwise, just in case. "What are you doing? Anything I could help with?" Yeah, she sounded like a hyperactive twelve-year-old girl… but then again, she acted like a hyperactive twelve-year-old girl most of the time, so it was no great loss if the first impression was a disaster. "I'm not really good with tech, but I s'pose I could try…"

written for stella

this post is made up of 439 words and kathleen is wearing this. the song lyric are from i'll run by the cab.

THANKS ♥

[STELLA SCOUT]

land of heroes. it's all yours when you're dead and gone.

Her head was so full of colored wires and tangled knots of electricity that Stella almost didn’t hear the person approaching her. Her head whipped up, startled, as the voice addressed her. Stella instantly softened her features. She had been told on more then one occasion, by friends and family alike, that she had somewhat of a severe face. And by the looks of it, this girl could not handle that. In fact, this girl looked useless. She felt guilty the moment she thought it, but as she took in the appearance of the woman - small, delicate, naive - she really couldn’t see what good she would be to them. The girl was wearing a white dress, for god sakes! How impractical was that? Again, Stella felt a pang of guilt. This was was not theirs but it had been forced upon them. They should be sticking together, not judging each other and casting away the ones who they deemed too hopeless to survive. Plus, she didn’t even know this girl. Maybe she had a hidden talent for the martial arts. She really hoped, for the girl’s sake, she had even the slightest survival bone in her. Stella managed a friendly, be it small, smile.

“Uh, I’m actually fine thanks. Just having a small battle with these walkie talkies,” she shrugged looking down at her hands full of the empty, black shells. Their wires spilling out like brightly-colored guts. Stella looked up at the girl, again. She was kind of jumpy, jittery, and definitely eager to help, based on the amount of times she offered. Stella was a little put off by her enthusiasm. She was sure the girl meant well but she could just see a disaster waiting to happen.

“But,” she said, pushing aside boxes, trying to clear a space to her right, “if you really want to help, you could start by telling me what’s going on in the rest of this place.”

She smiled again. This was actually perfect. Stella had explored their little refuge a little bit. She knew the layout and practically all contents of the general store from her many visits throughout her life. But the dentistry above and the weapons dealers below, she didn’t know much of. And ever since she’d been assigned the ever essential task of getting their communications up and running, Stella hadn’t had much time to look around. If she’d already made herself a little tech repair in aisle 6, she was sure others had found their niche as well.

“I’m Stella, by the way. I’ve seen you around town but I don’t think I got your name.”

we know how to make life go on.

© SUMMER AT A THOUSAND FIREFLIES