Time for a Chat, ALL settlers invited

[Alex McKinley]

October 20th
Afternoon

It had been awhile since the panther attack, and Alex was pissed enough that it had taken so long to organise a meeting of the group, but with new people coming in almost daily...including that infuriating bastard from a few days before, there hadn't been time.
but it had to be done, so Alex started spreading the word through the group for them all to gather in the main room at about two o'clock, for anyone who still had a working watch.

Alex had no problem with public speaking, had always been confident but she had never had to do it in such a serious situation. this wasn't talking and worksafe practices, this wasn't a debate in high school. This was trying to get a group of strangers to work together as a society so they all could survive and she was well aware that when people were frightened things could get out of hand, so she was grateful for the quiet presence of Kai nearby, ready to watch over the proceedings and hopefully able to smooth things over if they got out of hand.

It didn't help that her mind wasn't fully on what lay ahead, not when she'd catch a glimpse of that infernal dark head turning a corner and once even catching his eye, because it made her so angry she wanted to scream. What sort of game was he playing, anyway? He found out there was a group and was going to screw his way closer to them? It didn't help that she couldn't even remember if she'd mentioned the group before or after he'd kissed her, mind so muddled about the whole thing.
Instead of thinking of him, damn him to hell anyway, she paced at the front of the room, waiting for people to arrive. there were a lot of sawn off logs now, all set out to be used for chairs and if people preferred, there was plenty of floor, but she had to get this group working in unison or there'd be anarchy.

[Daniel Sykes]

A group meeting. Daniel was wondering how long it was going to take someone to get the guts to do something like this, and he was glad. He sure as hell didn't like being looked upon to make decisions, so it was great that someone else was doing it so he didn't feel forced to. He came, not because he wanted to, because he hated large social situations. But because he needed to, because damned if he trusted a whole bunch of scared civvies to do anything but cut each other's throats if there wasn't someone willing to thrash someone halfway to hell there to stop any action being made of harsh words.

Especially after his stalking abilities were found out, the ability to move through the forest and follow someone without their knowing - like he did with Everett, some other survivors started to respect him more. When he rescued some others, even more so. He had seen some of them watching him as he practiced his fencing outside the caves as well, and it pleased him. They knew he wasn't full of shit, everyone who knew him for more than two minutes knew it. Which would help.

He took a deep breath, gray eyes momentarily unfocused, and went inside the meeting area. He couldn't afford to let an anxiety attack plague him here. Not with so much at stake. Not now. There was plenty of time for it later. Here was where he would assert control if he had to, and help whoever he thought would be comfortable doing it full time achieve that. This split, lone wolf bullshit had to stop if they were going to survive. It just wasn't going to cut it. They needed clearly defined duties, or they were all screwed.

His scimitar was on his left hip, as always, secure in its leather scabbard with a leather sword belt. He was rarely without it, and if the group was going to fall apart tonight, he was at least going to have a hand in it.

He sat down, across from Alex on one of the logs, gray eyes intensely focused, matching her gaze.

"Good luck." were his only words. He didn't care who stepped up, as long as someone did and he didn't have to; though in the short quips people had said about this girl, he was surprised it was her that had the guts to do this, if it was her; and hopefully she didn't fuck things up for everyone here in the next hour or so. The last thing they needed was division and fearmongering. He rolled his powerful shoulders back, and closed his steel gray eyes for a moment, taking deep breaths. This was going to be hell, but it was necessary. He wasn't going to fall apart now.

[Ryan Barlow]

Ryan figured he'd get there early and get a good seat. A part of him was just a bit nervous that some of the adult survivors wouldn't let him stay because of his age. He'd just have to trust that there would be others who would stick up for him given all that had happened. It's not like he hadn't been an active member of the cave settlers what with the panthers and his daily hunting and scrounging.

Back when there had been civilization one had to be 21 to vote in elections but that was then and this was a whole new and much smaller and more personal world now. If they were going to make some important decisions this afternoon, Ryan felt he had every right to not only hear this all out but have a say so if he wanted. Kid or not, it was his survival too.

He plopped down on the cave floor and crossed his legs, letting the others have the log seats then people watched as others drifted on in.

[BENTLEY CONWAY]

Ben got up early that morning. Not because he wanted to, but because hunger drove him to it. Even though early rays from the morning would eventually warm up anyone’s skin, that didn’t help so much when the caves were dark and cold. It had become a habit of sleeping with jeans and a shirt on, not really because of privacy but because Ben knew he would otherwise freeze his ass off during the night. Getting to his feet and pulling an extra shirt over his head, he left the thin cotton blanket and sweatshirt behind him while heading down the tunnels leading outside. Just as he hit the exit and was now squinting from the sudden daylight spilling over him, he noticed how most people had already been out gathering whatever fruits and roots they could get their hands on and was now flooding back to the caves. The talk of a meeting of sorts that would take place in the caves made him mutter under his breath before ditching the idea of breakfast and turn around to submerge into the caves again. He decided he might as well find out what kind of asshole it was who was supposedly in charge of the place.

Rounding a corner he spotted something, or someone, slumped against the wall in a corner. Frowning lightly, he took a closer look at whatever the bundled up thing was, but from where he was standing he couldn’t really see a whole lot of anything. If it really was just some clothes thrown over something, then walking over there might provide something new to wear. It wasn’t any such thing, he soon discovered. Instead it was the giant from the other day and Ben figured that he had soon enough walked into something that might be a dragon’s lair. Well except from the lair part.

Curious about the man still, Ben decided to tap his boot against the man’s leg and then for good measures, he tapped him an additional few times. For all he knew he was snoozing like a bear in winter time. “Rise and shine. We’re being summoned to some sort of meeting. Might not want to miss it, man”, he said while silently hoping the guy wouldn’t jump his shit for waking him up early in the morning like that. Last thing he wanted was to find out that this mountain of man was a C person deluxe.

[Sean Conolly]

A gigantic thigh twitched, when it was nudged.
Then twitched again.

“Rise and shine. We’re being summoned to some sort of meeting. Might not want to miss it, man”
What the flying fuck..?

Slowly, in fact reminding of a bear woken from its hibernation, the endlessly long leg stretched.
And stretched.
And stretched...

The Undertaker unfolded his frame, bulging muscles playing under ghostly white skin, until he was standing upright, peering down at the tiny human nuisance that had interrupted his well-earned sleep.
The words needed a time to sink in, though, regarding, that he had been sleeping tight.
It was in the middle of the day, after all, and that was his regularly scheduled sleeping time!

Meeting. Don't want to miss.
Well, did he actually want to go to a so-called meeting?
Meetings for all he knew, were congregations of little people who flapped their arms and used copious amounts of words. Many words, most of them unnecessary and far too complicated, so the best thing was to stay the hell away from these "meetings".
On the other hand, he could humour this guy, after he was awake anyway and go to this meeting. After all, it might be that the tiny humans said accidentally something important.
Or hilarious.
Or hilariously stupid, whatever came first.
People did the darndest things, after all, and for now it seemed that he was stuck with them. So it might be a good idea to try and sit through their arm-flapping meeting.

Taker yawned and stretched, towering over the hapless Ben.
"Meeting. All Right. If. You. Say. So..."

Giving a deep, somewhat annoyed snort, he put on his sunglasses and left the dark corner he had found, walking towards the exit. But after a few steps he stopped abruptly, then stooped.
"Hello. Lucy. We. Need. To. Go. To. Some. Meeting."
he informed her and immediately scooped her up to take her with him, setting her on his forearm again, completely ignoring the man, who had woken him.
Approaching the entrance, it became clear that somebody had mercy with his vulnerable eyes and had decided to let them stay in the cave.
Thank God for small mercies!

Taking a look around, Taker picked a large log up with his free hand and put it down in a dark corner as a makeshift seat.
Folding his long legs cautiously in, he settled down and allowed Lucy to glide off his forearm and settle on a thigh.

"Let's. See. What. They. Are. Planning... And. If. We. Need. To. Get. The. Fuck. Out. Of. Here."
He explained.
True... one does not say the word "fuck" when a child was present.
But how on earth should Taker know that?

[BENTLEY CONWAY]

Ben had thought the guy had been pretty large the last time he had run into him, but now that he was actually standing face to face - or rather face to chest – with him, he realized that it had just been a spit in the bucket. Ben stood still, waiting for a reaction that seemingly didn’t come. He was considering giving him another tap with his boot to hopefully trigger another motion or something, when the guy finally said something. Slowly words were formed on his lips and Ben had to patiently wait for him to finish the sentence, regardless of the few words that was uttered. Nearly boggling when the guy stopped to pick up sunglasses and a child, Ben wasn’t sure what to think so he just followed in heel towards the spacious area where the meeting took place.

Parting ways with the child and giant, Ben took place along one of the sides of the room, placing most of his weight up against the rough texture of the wall. He was still hungry as hell and the thought of having to sit through a meeting that he didn’t care about just made him pissy. If it wasn’t for the fact that he would get a kick out of seeing what poor sucker would attempt to lead this herd of people, he doubted he would show up at all. Letting his gaze flicker around the crowd, he finally let it find the person standing in front of them all. It was as if his brain wouldn’t want to recognize her at first, in fact he refused to, although his traitorous emotions wouldn’t allow any such thing. Tensing his jaw, Ben’s gaze was locked in on the woman who had drawn him to the caves in the first place. If it wasn’t for the guy interrupting them, she had been wanting to screw him and walk away like some prostitute out working shift number 5. Except she didn’t even have the decency to charge. It had been the same as drinking cheap whiskey. The same buzz, the same forgetting, the same wretched hangover the next morning. He desperately wanted her, and he loathed her all at the same time. Screw her, he didn't need that shit. It was better that way, he told himself harshly.

[Lucy Burbank]

Lucy had been happy to sit in the cave and play with her doll Jenny. She was now glad that taker had brought her to the cave; she liked having more people around. It was much better than being all alone out in the woods where things could try to eat you, though she was still a bit wary right now, waiting to meet all the people who had survived the water. She had wondered how they all managed to keep from dying like her family.

Lucy had stayed close to taker this day, not really having a reason other than she didn’t want to go outside, after all, she had seen enough of trees to last her a lifetime it seemed. The tad of light in the cave was enough to let her see what she was doing so she was content enough. Her fingers played around with the yarn hair of her doll, trying to push it back in place from years of play. Her father had given Jenny to her when she turned five and Lucy adored her still.

She glanced when a man walked past her, keeping quiet to see what he would do. When she saw him trying to wake up her giant she kept a closer eye on them. Taker slept during the day so it was a bit odd that someone would wake him.

She didn’t have to say a word though as the big man rose but her eyes were on the other one too, trying to figure out what was going on.

It always made her laugh, especially when it tickled her stomach, when taker lifted her as if she weighed nothing. Lucy would insist on walking if it weren’t for that fact that she liked the height that he carried her, it was almost like flying. At least she thought so.

But when he mentioned meeting, she looked a bit confused. “What’s the meeting about?” She’d never been to one and she had no idea why she would have to go. But she didn’t complain, just clung to him on instinct to keep from feeling like she was going to fall.

She took in the faces that were already there, including the one who came to wake up Taker and the other people she’d seen around but not spoken to yet. Instantly she tensed, unsure about them all still, but it wasn’t as bad as it had been in the beginning. And when taker sat down, she clutched Jenny to her chest and leaned into Taker, waiting to see what was going to happen.

[Alex McKinley]

People were slowly trickling into the room as it got closer to the hour and Alex wondered idly how many would actually bother to show. Did they realise that this was important to the group? That this was them wanting to make sure people stayed safe and that they all had enough to eat? Alex was determined to make this work and she tucked her hair behind her ear as she leaned closer to Kai to swap notes and exchange the plan of attack, though hopefully people would be decent and understanding. Who knew what would happen, though? It didn't take an expert to know that people were frightened and fear could make the most sane of men a danger.

She should have been used to the feeling of being watched by now, since she was standing at the front of the room in the obvious position of authority, but something still made the hairs at the back of her neck prickle as she debated self defense and the lookout tower with the priest, making her glance up and scan the room slowly until her eyes stilled on that already familiar face. Too familiar and she hated again the way something rose deep within her, something nameless and intangible as yet but there nonetheless. Those eyes had already flashed far too many emotions in them for her to just ignore them, having seen them darkened with lust, glinting with humor and cold with anger and it infuriated her that the distance now meant she couldn't tell what they were like right now.

And why did she care? He was the asshole who had gone and ruined something that she'd almost dared to think was good by calling out to the searchers, leaving her to try and stitch back the ripped fabric of her reputation. She'd been grateful that Kai was one of the searchers, but it didn't help that the other men with him were looking at her with decidedly amused smirks and it probably also didn't help that her hair had been wild, her lips swollen and her cheeks flushed. Still, she'd talked her way out of it for now, refocusing their attention by mentioning the wolves she'd heard and that had been the last she had to think of the arrogant prick who she'd so stupidly almost fucked.

But he was here now, in the same room as her and it was like he was trying to steal her air, making her feel tight and uncomfortable and she had to literally force herself to look away and appear unrattled as she laid a quick hand on Kai's shoulder to reassure him she was okay because he'd just noticed she'd stopped talking to him.

"Yeah, all good," she muttered, running her fingers through her hair distractedly as she waited for more people to arrive.

[Jasper Moore]

Jazz woke blearily in the early afternoon, the sound of gathering happening nearby. He rolled over, repressing a moan of pain. His whole body hurt, finally, after his grueling survival journey. He hadn't heard many other people's stories yet, but he was pretty sure he knew what they were. There couldn't be much variation here. You either happened to already live on this… well he assumed it was a mountain… or you floated or flew here somehow. For some reason he didn't think too many people lived on this mountain top and the other two options sounded equally traumatizing. From what he could tell, the island couldn't be that large. Any landing was likely to be traumatic. And even assuming the landing went smooth, he hadn't seen that many people. Most people's families were probably dead already, or far enough away to make no matter.

He pushed that thought away, there was no use dwelling on it right now. He had to survive and if surviving for the moment meant waking up and going to this stupid meeting to vote that no one slit his throat in the night then he would do that. He could think about… well, he could think about other things later. Once he knew he was going to survive. He sat up, smoothing his hair down as best as he could, then slowly stood, trying to ignore how his entire body felt bruised. It must have been the beds or the dehydration or just finally all the stress getting to him, but either way this wasn't his best morning. He rubbed his eyes and started down the hall, following the slow trickle of people in that direction, including what appeared to be a real life giant and a little girl.

What an odd group.

He chose a seat near a wall, his closest neighbor for the moment a man who seemed somewhat unhappy with the woman at the front. He let his own gaze slide to her. She was standing front and center, perhaps the leader of this ragged band of heros survivors. She was pacing and he felt his own anxiety rising. He couldn't imagine talking to a group this large. The last time he had attempted to talk to a group of any sort he had actually been physically sick. He hoped this wouldn't be an open forum. He always had things he wanted to say and being unable to say them just made it worse. He chewed on his lip, sweeping his eyes over the crowd once more. Maybe this meeting would explain some of it, how he might fit in and what was expected of him. He hoped so anyway. He could hope, anyway.

[Ananda Kramer]

Ana rarely stayed in the cave except to sleep. She’d rather been out doing something and she was on another jog. She couldn’t stand sitting in place unless it was playing her music. It was the only thing that made her able to calm down and look relaxed. Climbing relaxed her too in a way.

Someone outside pointed out that there was some meeting and that if she wanted to attend that she better get in there. But she wasn’t told exactly what it was about just that it concerned them all. That of course piqued Ana’s interest and she moved toward the opening, following the sound of murmured voices through the dimly lit area until she found the room.

Barely looking at the others, she made her way close by to stand near the wall, arms crossed and waiting patiently to see what this was about. She wondered where her friend was. But hopefully soon she’d show up too.

It was then that she skimmed the room, eyes landing briefly on the people that she had spoken with and then others she hadn’t. And some she still wanted to punch because she knew she’d have to deal with him again. Alex of course she liked, at least so far and it seemed she was at the head by the positioning of everyone. This should be interesting, Ana thought.

[Emeline Blakesley]

A meeting was a good thing, especially in light of how large the group here was getting, and Emeline was more than happy to support Alex in her organization. It had to be done, they needed to pool and conserve resources, and utilize skills to build a place where they could thrive .

Entering the cave, she looked around, recognizing some of the people by name and others by sight, the colony was growing and there were many she hadn't met yet.

Moving into the room, she found an empty spot next to Ryan and settled there. She hadn't spoken to him much since the incident with the panthers, but she'd seen enough of him to know that he was a good lad and one day would be a valuable man.

"Hi, there, mind if I join you?" she asked with a smile.

[Ryan Barlow]

Ryan was scratching at a mosquito bite on the calf of his leg when someone sat next to him so of course he glanced over to see who it was. He was a little surprised an adult wanted to sit on the cave floor for this meeting but it was a pleasant surprise. He knew her of course, it was the cat lady. She was also a veternarian he recalled. Now the name...that was a bit harder.

"Oh hi, no you can join me, it's cool," he flashed a boyish smile.

"Ummm, you're...Emma something? Sorry..no! Emeline it was! Oops..is. In school I was always pretty good with names," he declared with a touch of pride.

"Oh hey, how's your cat?"

[Emeline Blakesley]

"Yes, it's Emeline." She chuckled. "I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage, though, I can't recall your name. And Buster is just fine. He's made a friend of that dog that's running around, and he seems to be happy prowling and sleeping."

She looked over at the lad, wondering where his family was and how he'd come to be alone, but there were so many stories, so many people alone now...If he didn't offer the information, one day she might ask, but for now it didn't matter since there was nothing that could be done about it.

"So, you were pretty good in school, huh? I don't suppose you miss it?"

[Ryan Barlow]

"Oh...sorry, I'm Ryan....Ryan Barlow....or you can call me Rye, whatever's easiest for you to remember," he now introduced himself, "And cool....about the cat I mean. I never owned one. I did have a dog once."

"Yep, I did like school...well, most of it anyhow. I always got good grades in fact...I bet you looking at me right now ...you'd never guess I was in high school," he grinned.

"I'm 13 but they let me skip and jump right into high school to give me more of an academic challenge. So there I was the youngest frosh...and a twerp. I didn't much care for a few of the meaner kids but I liked the classes," he gave a shrug, it didn't matter it was all in the past.

[Alex McKinley]

The room was filling up now, and Alex was too antsy to wait any longer so she cleared her throat loudly, waiting for the chatter to die down and feeling utterly ridiculous for standing here like this. She expected a whole bunch of strangers to listen to her and actually take her words into account? She was no fighter, but she did get things done and had been working hard since she got here to make people's lives more comfortable and that would have to be enough for now, enough to at least get them listening to her.

But she was just a woman, and it haunted her how she'd been taunted and teased for trying to prove herself in her teens, so her choice of vocation and while she believed she was strong, strong enough to handle anything, she still have a well hidden vulnerable side. A side that a certain someone had been in danger of touching, a side that she now hid deeper than ever before.

"Okay, settle down," she finally said, trying to fit into that awkward place between authoritative and friendly. "I know you're probably wondering what this is about. With the group getting bigger and with the panthers a few weeks ago, it's probably a smart idea to start keeping an eye out. This'll mean guards. Obviously, if you've had any training with self defense, we'd like you to step up but we'll also be looking for people to train the rest of us. I know it sucks, but I think it'd work best if everyone has a go at guard duty. You've probably seen the lookout tower over the way a bit, and we've already been using that to keep an eye out for boats, so we'll keep that up, always in pairs." Alex paused, pretty sure there'd be a load of questions now, and she'd only just started. It would help weed out the shit starters, at least, those who wanted to cause trouble.