[b]Myriah - Outpost - Alex/Council[/b]

She stared at him for a good long moment, examining his face. She was trying to determine if he was lying, or perhaps just being coy with her. She was [i]sure[/i] something had happened to Rudy and it was entirely possible Alex was the man behind it. She didn't know him well enough to say either way, but perhaps his coming to meet her was all she needed to know. That he specifically mentioned Rudy meeting someone he knew and that Rudy had desired to tell Myriah that it was his own free will... Well, perhaps she had nothing to worry about after all.

She hadn't spoken for long enough to probably make the moment feel awkward, so Myriah quickly looked down at her hands and nodded. "Thank you for telling me this," she said. "It means a lot to me." She stood now, looking more relaxed as she stepped over to one of the bookcases. "He'll be all right, I believe." Despite her relief at Rudy's safety, she felt a growing worry rise up and gnaw at her. She'd panicked and gotten Rhonda up in arms over nothing, and now there would certainly be consequences for her actions. She knew panicking all over again would get her nowhere, but she felt her heart start to beat fast and faster anyway. Still staring at the bookcase, Myriah said, "I don't know if you've spoken with Enrique yet, but I've heard he's in a bad mood today. I guess with Rudy gone, someone will need to report to Enrique instead."

She wrapped her arms around herself and let out a shaky breath. "But thank you again, Alex. I need to go see to something." She proceeded to contain herself long enough to let Alex out the door before leaving the cabin herself so that she could talk to Rhonda. She tried to help it, but she practically sprinted into the administration building, frightening a few people who saw her.

She saw Randy exiting the office and waved him down. He stared at her confusedly as she approached him. "I was just coming to see you," he said, scratching at his neck. "Rhonda has asked everyone to meet in the deliberation room."

It was like a punch to the gut. She was too late. "Is she-Is she in there now? Did she say what the meeting's for?"

Randy shrugged nonchalantly. "She's in there. Don't know what it's about, but she says it's serious." He started pulling away, gesturing for her to follow. "You coming? You know how Rhonda can get."

[i]Oh, I know[/i], she thought. She knew all too well.

***

She and Randy entered the deliberation room to find just about everyone already there. She looked around briefly and found that Matt was missing-- It was a strange day when she considered that to be a [i]bad[/i] thing. She quickly walked up to Rhonda and pulled her to the side. "Rhonda, what are you--"

The woman held up her hands. "Wait, wait, I know what you're going to say, but this is something we need to do. That man is a bad seed. They both are. Everyone will know the truth, all right?" She smiled at her, but Myriah felt like screaming. She wasn't [i]ready[/i] for this. It was [i]too soon[/i]. She'd thought Rudy missing meant that her life was in immediate danger and so she had stupidly acted too soon. Now things were going to escalate beyond her control, and Myriah didn't want to think what would happen to her and to Outpost.

"Rhonda, you're moving too soon. We need time to think this all through--"

The woman began to puff out, her agitation rising. She was too angry to listen at this point. Myriah had launched her like a rocket and now she was going to come crashing down on all of them. "I know you're scared. Just sit down, honey, and I'll handle it." Defeated, Myriah sat down in the circle of desks with the others. She found them all looking at her curiously, though Isaac strangely looked angry. It couldn't mean anything good.

Rhonda took her place and quickly got the meeting started. "Welcome, everyone. I'm afraid to say I couldn't prepare snacks for this meeting, but the matter we discuss today is gravely serious." She paused momentarily before choosing to stand. "It concerns a fellow member of our council, Matt, and a man currently within our scouts, Enrique. I have reason to believe that one of them-- likely both of them-- had a hand in the murder of our dear Samantha."

The room exploded. The floodgates had been opened, and Myriah felt like someone was suddenly gripping at her head. Everyone was thoroughly confused at this declaration when they believed the matter had been solved. Eventually, Sylar stood up and called everyone to order so that Rhonda could continue. She thanked him before continuing, her face set into a grim frown. "Immediately concerning is the fact that, today, Enrique threatened the lives of not just Myriah, but myself and the people of Outpost. Myriah came to me earlier today and said that Enrique had threatened her. After I confronted him on the matter, he grew angry and threatened me as well. He is a temperamental man who does not have our community's best interests at heart."

Randy cleared his throat. "He did come with that man, Thomas. We can't deny that. Their actions resulted in the deaths of far too many people. Those could have been my boys out there."

Isaac looked already done with all of this. "He stated that he was manipulated by that man just as we were," he said. "And he has given us no reason to doubt him. Until today, apparently."

"Not apparently," Rhonda said, her hands balling into fists. "You know us! Myriah and I have been with Outpost since the very beginning!"

"So why threaten Myriah today?" Isaac asked. "Unprovoked? Did you say anything to upset him, Myriah?" He looked at her accusingly and Myriah felt herself shrink under his gaze. She swallowed and nodded shyly, for she really had nothing to say.

"He threatened her because she was nearing the truth," Rhonda rebutted. "Enrique was a close friend of that man... and it was Matt who spoke highest of Enrique when he returned. It was Matt who approved of the plan to attack that other community and it was Matt that led us all to finding Reggie guilty of Samantha's murder."

Sarah looked a bit shell-shocked, but she managed to speak up. "Rhonda... I believe you when you say Enrique threatened you, but the only connection between him and Samantha is conjecture." She said the last word slowly, as if she was making sure she was using it right as she said it.

"But he fit Myriah's description!" Rhonda cried. "It all fits! If we just question him--"

"Frankly, this is ridiculous." Isaac stood up now and stared Rhonda down. "And it's a poor attempt at throwing guilt off of yourself, Myriah." She felt another blow to her gut. Her eyes went wide as Isaac turned to her, hate behind his gaze. He [i]knew[/i], she realised. Matt had gotten to him. Rhonda and the others began to cry out about this second declaration, but Isaac drowned them out by raising his voice. "I wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt, Myriah! I never would have believed you were capable of that, but this [i]farce[/i] just proves it." He spoke to everyone now, his hands raised animatedly. "Myriah had a hand in the mutiny, everyone. She didn't want to be our leader any more, so she came up with the plan. It went wrong and Jonas tried to kill her, but Myriah tried to manipulate us. Matt found out, and now she's trying to silence him."

More upset outcries. Myriah couldn't do a thing but stare at Isaac, her mouth stuck agape. "Myriah's name wasn't in the journal!" yelled Randy.

"Reggie's journal only spoke of Jonas," Isaac responded. "A dead man. He wanted to keep the live ones out of it." There were cries that Isaac had no proof of this either, but he only shook his head. "Matt predicted this would happen, so he got proof." Isaac then left his desk to open the door to the hall. Everyone went quiet as he stepped aside and allowed a tall older man into the room.

Sarah suffered a sharp intake of breath. "Michael!"

Isaac went back to his desk, allowing everyone to stare at Michael. "We all believed Michael was partly to blame for the mutiny, as he had gone missing that night. Now he's here today to confess."

Silence enveloped the room again as Michael nodded. "I have been away for some time and I have deliberated during that time how to atone for what I have done. I came back to you all when... had to say something. Though the plan was to pretend a mutiny attempt had taken place, Jonas decided to take it a step too far. I was a coward who ran and allowed him to proceed with his change of plans. I am thankful to hear that Reggie had the nerve to turn on his fellow co-conspirator and stop him." The man then looked straight at Myriah, and she knew it was all over. "And I am sorry, Myriah, for not following our plan to the end."

The room broke out into shrill dialogue once again, but it was all becoming a vague indiscriminate buzz to Myriah. It was all the same. "Lock him up!" Randy cried. "If he's really confessed, lock him up!"

Michael looked defensive to this and Isaac waved Randy off. "Matt and I have promised him that he can leave after this in exchange for his confession. As he had no hand in the murder attempt, we believe this is fair. As for Myriah, we feel--"

"No!" Rhonda yelled. Others echoed her, and the buzzing began anew. It was all entirely useless, Myriah knew. Whether they believed Isaac or not, Matt would not rest until he had planted a seed of doubt in every single person of Outpost. There would be rumours and accusations... soon, Myriah's status would be nothing compared to what it used to be. Even worse, she would have to start looking over her shoulder every time she left her cabin. She lifted her hands to rub at her head and drowned everyone out. Her glasses slipped from her face just like everything else that was slipping away from her.

---

[b]Shannon - Forest/Cabin - Emma/Rob/Finch[/b]

They stepped over fallen branches and trees, dismayed at the state of the forest. James' face grew more concerned the further they went, and Shannon was starting to think the campsite would be missing, having been blown away in the storm. It was disorienting trying to find the tents amongst the carnage, but Danny was the first to see and comment on the broken remains of the fishing line, indicating to Shannon that they were close. After stumbling around a bit more they found the remains of one of the tents stuck in a tree. They pulled it down to find a few blankets, but nothing of much significance. They found the fire pit soon after, but it was all that remained. The second tent had done like Shannon feared and flown far far away.

"Damn," Danny muttered, looking around. "What made you decide to camp out here, anyway?" No one responded to him, both Shannon and James too caught in the fact that their friends were missing. Beside her, James brought a hand to his face and sobbed.

"It's just like Valentina," he said, eyes watering. "Emma's gone too." Shannon moved to hug him, but he roughly shoved her away. "No! This isn't fair!" The boy ran to the edge of the clearing and yelled, "Emma! Rob!" When no one responded, he turned around and shook his head violently. "They're gone! You'll be next and then I'll be alone!"

Danny looked more annoyed than concerned, so Shannon gave him a vexed look, causing him to stare down at his feet. She approached James once again and hugged him despite his physical protests. "It's okay," she cooed. "I'm not leaving you. I'll never abandon you." James only cried as a response. She let him cry into her sweater, still damp from the rain anyway.

"... It'll be dark soon," Danny said from behind her. "We should head back and find a place to spend the night."

She looked behind her and into Danny's eyes. He looked embarrassed, almost uncomfortable. He'd left his home and his friends to be by her side. She still had her close connection with James, but Danny didn't [i]fit[/i] into that. She didn't want him to start regretting his decision, for honestly she enjoyed having him around again, even though it would take some time for their friendship to go back to the way it once was. If it even ever did. She detached from James and straightened up to look beyond the line of trees. "I know," she said. "But we have to spend some time looking for Emma. She couldn't have possibly gone far in that."

Danny stepped up beside her and stared at her. "... Okay. We can do that, I guess. We might have run into her back in the city if she had went that way, so..." He let out a sigh. "Fuck, I don't know. Outpost had a few routes into the city, and most of them passed by cabins in the swampland. We could go find one."

She nodded slowly. "Okay. You hear that, James? We're going to look for Emma." The boy nodded, but didn't look confident. She didn't expect him to, after their search for Valentina ended in disaster. Danny led the way, thankfully somewhat knowing the forest due to his time at Outpost. One day she'd have to ask him about it. She was curious about the place her best friend had lived the last few months; What kind of connections did he make their? She knew he was a surly kind of guy, but certainly he had made friends. He'd always been able to make friends, even when he strangely acted so distant with everyone else.

Their walk through the forest was a silent one, with Danny stopping every so often to suddenly switch directions. James followed obediently behind them, sniffling as if he had a cold. The forest was less damaged the further they went, but also increasingly swampy. Danny swore under his breath a couple of times and moved them around bodies of water that they could not pass with what they had on. After Shannon believed they had been walking for about twenty-five minutes, Danny clapped his hands. "Okay, I definitely know where we are now! There's a cabin we used for transitioning into Outpost around here. Shit, it's the only one for miles, so if Emma is anywhere, it'd probably be there." [i]That was if she found it and was safe[/i], Shannon thought. It was just as likely Emma had fallen into a river and drowned.

They found a trail quickly after Danny realised where he was going. They spotted the cabin poking through the trees, looking like a beacon of hope in the setting sun. They stepped on to the porch a minute later and Danny grumbled at the front door. "Someone broke the damn thing again..." They stepped inside and Danny attempted to force it back into place. "There... shouldn't be anyone here," he grunted as he shoved against the door. "Anyone from Outpost, I mean. Since... there was... Fuck! None of the scouts have used this place in a few weeks, as far as I know."

James, having managed to calm himself down, became excited at the possibility others were around. He ran down the hall, crying, "Emma! Rob!"