Dark Inside: The Apocalypse [[Teen/survival]]

((Dudes. Uncool. Just saying...

Make me wait any longer, and I swear I'll set a drunk Mitch on you. ))

[[IT'S KIRA'S TURN RIGHT NOW I SWEAR IT AHHHHH NO NOT THE DRUNKEN MITCH]]

[Crucified Christ I'm sorry DX I am typing my reply RIGHT NOW. I swear.]

Carder turned ever so slightly to cast Danny a dark look over her shoulder at the mention of his ‘compliment.’ She turned away from him once more, and then was forced to look up again to acknowledge Shae. However, she was not expecting the red head to actually be nice to her when she came over. When Shae asked if she was okay, Carder’s mouth opened a bit in shock. She analyzed her words in her head for a moment, and when she didn’t detect any reason to mistrust her, she found herself even more scared than if Shae had been threatening her.

Hesitantly she took a dried vegetable and shrugged. “’Spose I’m alright.” She grumbled, leaning back. Then an unmistakable aroma wafted her way, causing her nose to crinkle and her lips to curl up with disgust.
“Honestly, I want to shoot him in the head.” She mumbled, taking another bite of jerky. She really didn’t, of course. She was still all mixed up from their previous encounter.

Her head rolled on her shoulder, and her green eyes regarded Shae. She studied her carefully, with a new opinion of her. Obviously there was a lot more to the girl than she had originally thought, though she wasn’t sure if she wanted to know it all. There were certainly a few screws loose, but also a human side.
At this thought, the corners of Carder’s mouth curled up in a smile. Not a sugary-sweet fake smile like usual, but a simple, genuine smile. She averted her gaze a bit to look at Mitch, and the smile faded a bit.
He was obviously very human as well, which flooded her with warmth. Despite how dysfunctional they all were, she included, they worked.

Carder smiled again and looked back up at the ceiling. Not even a few minutes after a shadow covered them, and she turned to once more look at Mitch. She pursed her lips in annoyance. She liked them all, whether she wanted to admit it or not, but that didn’t mean they didn’t annoy her.
“Nope, we most certainly aren’t.” She said and looked over at Danny. Her nose wrinkled once again, and she looked back at the former gangster. “And no, you don’t get anything else. This all has to be saved for everyone.” She told him, arching her eyebrow.

[I suck. I’m sorry. I know e-e maybe one of these days I’ll have a sudden stroke of genius and type a good reply for y’all@~@]

((Yay! :'D At long, long last! Thank you, Kira.

It's on you now, Batty... And remember: Mitch is watching. ))

[[I don't do well under pressure, poo-poo Polo. That's why my book is turning out so suckish omg.]]

Shae arched an eyebrow at Mitch when he stumbled over. Yeah, the whole lot of them was f*cked up, but at least her head was clearing. That drug didn't have too much of an effect on her. Maybe it was because she was used to it...
Then the smell hit her. She wanted to lunge up and skin the guy alive, but that would be bad for the whole 'team' thing, and frankly she didn't really feel like wasting energy on him. She just nodded when Mitch threatened Danny and said, "I'll do it for you. And no, you're not eating. I'll take your share of it."
She rolled her eyes and leaned back against the wall, stretching her legs out in front of her. The yoga pants were a little loose on her, but that was okay. It was better than wearing shorts, because god knew how hairy her legs were getting. She needed to find a razor, or better yet, waxing stuff. She wrinkled her nose sighed. At least the hair was light red. And winter would be coming soon anyways. They'd need to find warm clothes by then.
"You still didn't answer my question." Shae said, turning to Mitch. She let it go though, but continued going.
"And since we're now a team, I suppose we'll have to get going with formal introductions and initiations and sh*t. I'm cool with leaving Danny out of this for now, though." She chuckled and pulled out some mmore food, eating slowly while pondering what to say next. Maybe the atmosphere could use a little bit of lightening up. "Hi, I'm Shae and I'm addicted to killing anything that irritates me. I'm here today because I'm hoping to overcome this addiction. With your help, I can." She rolled her eyes and looked at the other two expectantly.
"Oh, and Carder, I'm going to try to play nice with you. I'll give it my best shot." She winked.

[[Ugh, Shae stop it you scandalous whore Jesus. I think she's a lesbian. Omg, great plot twist, yes.]]

[oh gods, Shae as a lesbian? Poor Carder xD]

((... o_0 Shae would be a horrible lesbian. XD

Ah, I'm so glad you guys finally posted. I've been dying to carry on with this - I'm actually in 'Mitch-mode' for once! But it's fading fast. Dreameh had better hurry up. ))

((Feel free to skip me for now, if you like. Just because Danny's asleep and I don't want to time skip in case any of you have ideas for conversation starters. XD I'll post on the next round. ))

((Slacker. But I'm bored, so I'll take you up on that. ))

Mitch grumbled sulkily when Carder denied his request for food, but he did not complain. He understood, and besides - with his head injury, he could not afford to be encumbered by a full stomach. Sighing, Mitch slumped back in his chair, and stared blankly up at the ceiling, ignoring the 'womanfolk' for the time being.
After a moment, however, Shae spoke - and a certain sharpness in her tone let him know that her words were intended for him.
"You still didn't answer my question."
He slowly lowered his head, and responded with a raised eyebrow, his expression challenging, Do you really want to push me, Sweets...?
Before he could make some snide remark, however, Shae went on, and her playful introduction actually drew a snort of amusement from his lips.
"Nice." He snickered, shaking his head and grinning in amusement.
He smirked at Shae's sweet little promise to Carder, and flashed the latter a wink which might almost have been friendly.
"I'd introduce myself," He grinned crookedly, "But sadly I can't find a single f*ck to give." He shrugged, and got to his feet, slightly clumsy in the dizziness that his split head begot.
"Now if you ladies will excuse me," He cricked his neck to either side, then pulled a pistol from his belt, and spun it on his finger, "I'm going out scouting." He finished simply, "I sure as hell ain't stayin' around here, and I wanna see if the coast is clear to get a move on when Princess Flatulence here wakes up." He jerked his head in Danny's direction, then turned and raised a hand in a backward wave as he walked away from his team.

((Dreameh, opening an opportunity for you to time skip when you need to. The Mitchinator is off on its own little mission, whatever the hell that is. ))

((I forgot to time-skip, sorry. Some time has gone by. I don't know how much, someone else can decide on that. But... Yeah. Sorry about this, it's depressing and it really sucks. But my brain went bye-bye, so it's the best I could do. XD Enjoy. ))

Danny just smirked at all their comments. He wasn't ashamed. They chose to save him, they didn't had to have, they could have let him die a long time ago, and they knew fair well what he was like.
And he was most certainly not taping his ass cheeks shut.
The last thing he heard before he went to sleep was the sound of Mitch's disappearing footsteps to the girls and their faint, white chatter that he probably wouldn't have bothered listening to even if he hadn't been going to sleep.

It seemed the minute his eyes closed they flashed open again, but this time, he was in a different world. A world before this one, where people lived in houses, psychos remained safely behind bars, and everyone was smiling. His parents were alive, and for the first time in months he felt properly safe.
“Daniel! The pizza's here!”
He walked into the kitchen. It was an old room with pretend tiles on the floor, a plain wooden counter and an oven that didn't match anything but the colour of the metal door handle around the back. He smiled and floated to the dining table – an old pine thing that was scratched from years of infanthood and crayon marks that still hadn't come off – and sat down on one of the chairs to wait to have his dinner served. His dream-like self told him he was hungry, even if his real self had only eaten moments earlier.
“Smell's good, ma.” He grinned, just as the plate slid onto the table before him.
He wanted to scream. He really did. But his breath was caught in his throat, choking him. Instead, his eyes widened in horror.
On the plate was a thin layer of cooked dough, sprinkled with some red liquid that might have looked like tomato juice, had it not been for the object that had been unceremoniously dumped in the middle of the plate. A human head.
“T-that's not p-pizza...” He said in a quiet, strangled voice, pushing his chair away from the table. The head looked old, the skin had eroded around the deep holes where the eyes were supposed to have been, it's fairly long, black, dirty hair matted over the splashes of red on the dough, staining the tips of the wirey strands. It's mouth was stretched open into an empty, silent scream that he wished he could mirror, but his voice box didn't seem to want to.
A hand slapped down on the table beside him, scaring him out of his skin.
“We've waited long enough for you, Danny.” His mother growled, and when he looked up at her the first thing he noticed was her eyes. Black. Veiny. Empty.
He leaped to his feet, eyes wide. “Mam...”
“We waited for you to join us. But you'd rather live in Hell.”
He shook his head so fast her face went blurry for a moment. “No... I-It wasn't like that. I wanted to-... I really wanted to die...”
“That's no use now, is it?” Another voice sneered. Danny's head snapped round, just as his old flat mate, Joe, walked onto the scene, eyes matching Dan's mother, with his cracked lips splitting into a cruel grin slightly bigger than what was humanly possible. “You had your chance, Danny boy. You've hurt your mammy's feelings. She hates you.”
“No...” Danny gasped.
Hands grabbed at his arms, pulling him away from his mother, his home. He struggled but it was no use. More hands appeared around his waist, his stomach, his chest, around his neck... Squeezing the breath out of him until he could feel himself going blue. His eyes watched his mother desperately, willing her to stop them from killing him. To look at him. To show him a speck of the love she felt for him once. But instead, she just turned her back and started walking into the white light.
“No... Ma-... P-please...” A hand clamped over his mouth, forcing him to go silent. Now all he could see was Joe's tall frame, his menacing black eyes, and the sound of chorused laughter coming from all directions. Joe started walking towards him, moving meters closer with every blink.
“She can't here you, Ringo. You had your chance. She's gone. Now, you live in Hell, and you'll die in Hell. She doesn't want to see you anymore.”
He tried to scream, but the hands strangled him viciously.

When he woke up, he could hear the screams of all the deaths he'd ever witnessed, ever caused, and will happen in the future. And with the screams came the faces: a tiny child, it's innocent face twisted into an evil that should never have found it in the first place, holding a huge meat knife how a baby holds a rattle, laughing a squeaky laugh like it's having the time of it's life. An old man, dragged out of his home and ripped apart on the street, then left on the pavement like road kill.
Then there was Joe. His best friend who turned on him at the worst of times, and the smile on his face when he wrapped his hands around Danny's throat...
When Danny finally opened his eyes, he was panting. Not just breathless, but completely lacking of oxygen. His throat burned, his body stank of sweat and he was trembling all over.
He stared at the mouldy wall opposite him, curling tighter in a ball.
He didn't want to live anymore.
He wanted to die.
But what use was that anymore?

He let out a soft, croaky whimper, and suddenly tears were rolling down his cheeks. For a moment he tried to wipe them away with the back of his hand, staring at them as if they were something alien to him, but eventually he just gave in to them. His burnt leg throbbed horribly, but it wasn't the reason that he was still trembling.
A sniff hissed his nose, thick and bubbly. But it didn't help at all. He tried again, firmer this time, but all it did was create more bile in the back of his throat.
Why now? He thought with a defeated sigh as his pillow began to dampen. Of all ties why the f*ck does it have to be now?
He hoped the others would notice since he had his back to them, but his shoulders were shaking so much with the silent sobs he had a feeling they might.

[I'm lazy and didn't want to time skip, so let's just assume that went along with Carder's thinking time
Poor Danny :c]

Carder’s eyebrows arched slightly at Shae, a bit off-put by her at the current moment. She glanced her over as she ‘introduced’ herself, contemplating how to respond. Then again she as caught off guard.
Did she justwink? Carder asked herself, staring at Shae, completely baffled. She shook her head to clear her thoughts, and then shrugged. She half-way listened to Mitch, honestly not really caring what he was up to. She glanced over as he walked off, then looked back at Shae.
“Pleasure to meet ya. I’m Carder, and sometimes I’m a boy.” She smiled sweetly at her, her green eyes dancing. She loved this whole group aspect, even though they were a bit more likely to get killed.
With that lovely thought, Carder turned away from the other girl and looked at the doors. She was curious as to when they would get a move on. She was certain that none of them wanted to stay here at the Warehouse, and to be quite honest, she wasn’t exactly loving it either.
She figured there had to be more out there. Maybe the rest of the world wasn’t infected…though that seemed unlikely due to the fact that if the rest of the world was alright they would have sent help. Right?

As she pondered this, she was stirred from her thoughts by the slight shaking of the bed behind her. Slowly she turned her head, and saw that it was only Danny.
Carder shot up into a standing position, turning around in the person. It sounds a lot more graceful than it actually was, since she nearly hit her head on the rail of the bunk. She gave the wooden post a stern look before turning her attention back to Danny.
“Oy, Danny Boy.” She said softly, touching his shoulder.
Though she had already been aware that he was probably crying, the sight of tears glistening on his cheeks shook her up quite a bit, and she wasn’t exactly sure what to make of it. She thought back to what she did when her little sister cried.
Normally she sang a song for her, and she was already racking through her own personal juke-box in her brain for a song for Danny. A small smile tugged at her lips when she came across one, and she sat down on his bed. She certainly wasn’t going to do anything now, since she didn’t want him lashing out at her or anything. That seemed to happen a lot, with just anyone in general.
Carder gently squeezed his shoulder, looking down at him. Her eyebrows were knitted together with concern, though she wasn’t going to ask if he was alright. That was a stupid thing to ask, since he obviously wasn’t.

((Aww Carder God, if Mitch finds Danny in this state, or even Shae, he's going to be so humiliated... XD Thought he'd have a deep moment anyway, since he's been such an ass lately. XD

*resists temptation to post again*... O.o))

[now that you've said that, you know they're going to xD
Again, poor Danny (this time for whatever Batty and Polo have in store.)]

((I'm going to be nice and leave Mitch on his own little mission. I'm trying to help him transition into less of an ass, and a crying Danny will certainly NOT help my cause. There's no way Mitch wouldn't be cruel and mocking. Just no way.

HERE, BATTY, BATTY, BATTY! ))

[[Okay, I have no idea what is going on, like what the setting is, time of day, weather, anything because this isn't really all that active and I feel like I'm going to mess something up if I post something innacurate. Anyone else feel this way? I really really REALLY want to continue it, but maybe we could do a timeskip for a couple of weeks? Pretty please? *sad meowing noises*]]

((I agree, because I'd rather like to show Danny Boy off when he CAN WALK. :3 But I'd like to wait until Danny's stopped crying, if that's okay. One more round? Then the next person who wants to time-skip can when it's their turn.
If you're museless, I'll happily post now for Carder then either you or Polo could skip forward a few weeks. ^_^ ))

[[I would so enjoy having someone else post for now and skip me ^^ And I promise I'll have a wonderful returning post ]]

((I also feel we need a time-skip. That way they can 'solidify' their relationships a little. XD I'll leave the next post to you, Dreameh, since Mitch is out of the way anyway. When Danny has had his moment, I'll be happy to skip ahead for you, Batty. ))

[[You are all wonderful people!!!]]

((Okay, shall post in a minute
Hey, guys! You know this is all based on a book? Well the sequal has just come out and I've ordered it!!! Expect random twist ideas from me in, like, the next three weeks. ))

[[Woohoo! Is the book called Dark Inside?]]

((The first is called Dark Inside, the second's called Rage Within. ^_^ SO looking forward to getting it. !!!

I apologise for this, I tried to summarise it a bit so that you could time-skip. Danny's been acting a bit weird, though. ))

Danny didn't even flinch when he felt Carder's shadow lingering over him. But, despite his failure to remain secretive of his tears, even with her beside him he still tried to hide himself. Facing the wall he curled up as tightly as he could with his burnt leg and sniffed, crossing his arms over his chest. He was aware that he was shaking, but that was now because his body had gone into some sort of shock, or maybe it was just cold in there. He hoped for the latter.
“Go away, Carder.” He croaked half-heartedly, but he was glad when she didn't. In fact, he was even more glad that it was her with him and not one of the others. Out of all of them she was probably the only one with much compassion.
Besides which, they were from the same country.
His shoulder stopped shaking with sobs when she touched it, and, although he didn't reach over to her hand and take it – that would probably earn him a slap, plus it was weird – he didn't shrug it off.
“D'you know what home looked like, before all this?” He whispered, still not bothering to look at her. She knew he was crying, he didn't have to show her. “Scotland. D'you remember what it was like in Summer?”
He laughed bitterly, although it sounded more like a sob. He wiped his nose unceremoniously on the back of his finger.
“It was a cold, wet place. Probably still is. The population used to be much smaller than any other country in the UK. Way smaller than over here, in the US, too. But it was amazing how brilliant it looked, even in the heaviest of rain. The mountains were covered with forests, seas that bled into the skies, moors that went on for years...” He thought for a moment, then a tiny smile pulled on his lips.
“Foxes. City ones. Evil little buggers, they were. You used to be able to hear them humping in the street even with the windows closed.” He snickered through a runny nose, sniffing away the tears that seemed to have stopped falling, but he couldn't remember when. “I remember one popped the football I got for my thirteenth birthday. Hated them after that.”
He frowned at himself. Why was he telling her all this? Oh well, it made him feel better and if she could be bothered to even pretend to listen then he'd officially like her more than the others.
He wiped away the remainder of his tears with his sleeve and rolled over to face her. Pulling himself stiffly into a sit he wiped his sticky face and yawned.
“Carder.” He said simply, shooting her a brief glance that may have been slightly shy. “Thank you.”
She could decide what that was for. He wasn't going to elaborate for her.
Grabbing his stick he yanked himself to his feet, wincing at the pain in his leg. “Now, if you'd excuse me, I need to use the little boy's room.” He shot her a wink, then started to limp to a back door that led to a weedy spot outside the warehouse, sheltered from sight, where he could relieve himself.

[[I'm just going to do the first timeskip post because I'm extremely bored, okay?]]

Shae cracked open a lazy eye as she watched the sun filter into an opening in the ceiling of the warehouse. One glance to her left and she saw the softly snoring figure of Carder. She chuckled. The girl would be mortified if someone told her that she snored. She'd gotten used to the other red-head. She wasn't so hostile to the girl, but she wasn't very friendly either. It was more of an alliance that they had. They were business partners, nothing more. They most certainly weren't best friends that would stay up until the wee hours of the morning talking about boys and their favorite celebrities and make-up. She never did that even before the world ended.
Sighing, she stood up and gracefully walked to the open door. It had been three weeks since the tornado, but everything was still in horrible condition. Branches and leaves lay on the grass, tree trunks were completely torn up, even rotting corpses lay in the field. She didn't really care about that part, though. It was just the smell that got her.
It was getting cooler out; she could tell that the seasons were changing. Already, leaves were turning colors. Orange, golden, brown, and twisting to the ground as they fell to their deaths. It even smelled of autumn. Shae didn't particularly care much for the weather. It was too cold to wear what she normally did, but still too warm to don in her winter gear. Although she didn't really have any winter gear at the moment. Maybe they could stop by town and raid some department stores...
Chuckling, she turned her head to the west. In the distance, there were the crumbling remains of what used to be a bright and lively village. There used to be parades every month, children would run through the streets, people could leave their doors unlocked... Well the last part only lasted until she came through. She'd killed two people there before.
She still hoped to get to that weapons store Mitch had been talking about. Now that Danny's leg was nearly healed, they'd be able to leave soon. Get away from this stupid warehouse. The threat of too many people here was gone now. Everyone had fled after the tornado and the monsters; only two people - people that had run the shelter - had stayed behind. They'd turned, each on the same day, ironically, and she and Mitch had shot them in cold blood. Carder had seemed a little distressed, but she did a good job of hiding it.
Shae quietly went to the food stash and started picking through it. There was a lot more food now. The people running the facility hadn't let on that there was actually a large storeroom full of supplies. Canned foods, Twinkies, preservatives, everything that she could imagine had been there, and now it was all for them.
Grinning, she picked up a bag of dried fruit and tore it open, gingerly taking out a piece at a time and slowly chewing it. She waited patiently for everyone to wake up. Mitch and Danny were outside - probably on he roof - taking shifts and doing guard duty. Tomorrow would be her and Carder's turn. They switched off every day so that they would have a chance for a full night of sleep. Wow, had she changed. Never had she imagined that she'd be willing to sleep with someone - much less these three misfits - as her protection. She would have never lowered her standards enough to do it. But now she was beginning to see the light. It was a good thing to be a team. And everything that Cat had said, about her being better than what she was and about her going to change, constantly swarmed her mind. She'd never been so on edge in her entire life. She didn't know if she wanted to change. She just hoped it would be worth her while...

[[Lame response is lame. I could have done better than that but...]]

Three weeks had passed since the tornado. How Mitch knew this, he wasn't entirely sure. It wasn't like he counted the days, or carried a calender around in his pocket - he just knew, somehow. Maybe it was the change of seasons, or perhaps simple animal instinct?
It was not unlikely. He was more beast than man, in any case.
Snorting in amusement to himself, he surveyed the area from his post on the roof, and caught sight of Shae's fiery head emerging from the building below as she woke and stepped outside.
She didn't greet him, and he returned the favour. The dynamic between them was a good one; they spoke only when it suited them, and neither took offense if the other just decided not to give a flying f*ck one day or another.
She never annoyed him, and for that Mitch was glad.
In fact, none of his 'crew' annoyed him any more. Each served their own role, and he accepted them as they were. Did he like them? Well... 'Like' was a strong word. He tolerated them; some days easier than others.
He shivered as a chilly breeze struck him, noting once again the drop in temperature that had made itself clear to him just recently, and he raised his shoulders and turned up the collar of his jacket to protect himself from the cold.
Absentmindedly, he turned to the man beside him, finding Danny asleep on a crummy wooden stool. Mitch sighed, shaking his head wearily. If he were in Danny's position, he would also sleep. After all, no monsters got past Mitch; ever. It was that simple.
He smirked to himself, and reached over to flick Danny's ear.
"Hey." He grunted, "Wake the f*ck up, you lazy bastard. We're leaving soon."
Without offering an explanation for this sudden decision, Mitch stood abruptly, walked to the edge of the roof, and jumped down. He hit the ground in a pile of dead leaves which crunched beneath him as he broke his fall with a roll.
Standing and rubbing his shoulder irritably, Mitch walked inside, and found Shae in the storage area.
"Hey." He greeted her, reaching over her shoulder to steal a piece of dried fruit.
"I reckon we should blow this joint today. The monsters' numbers kept increasing until last night; then none showed up. I reckon they're planning something... Besides, this place was a sh*tty idea from the start. I don't know why we're still here."
He shrugged, and brushed past her to grab a packet of biltong ((...Or 'jerky', I think... As you guys call it... )) off the top shelf. He ripped open the packet, and tore a piece ravenously with his teeth.
"We need to get some weapons, warmer clothes, first aid..." He took a deep breath, and added with furious bitterness, "And motherf*cking Vodka!"
Evidently, he felt he'd spent far too much of his time being sober lately.