[IC] This Means War

[liah]

"Yeah, that'd be great." I gave him a small smile. "Plus, it's disgusting in here. I can't believe I'm in this dusty old bed." I carefully began to shift my legs, starting off with swinging my uninjured leg over the side of the bed. Next, I grabbed my bad leg and slowly moved it until I could safely plant my feet on the ground. "Could you help me stand up?" I asked, a little afraid of how standing up might feel.

[natcat]

"Of course." I said and moved over to put my arm around her shoulder. Together, slowly but surely, we managed to get her standing. I was holding most of her weight as she leaned into my shoulder. "We should find you crutches or something. When the rain lifts, I'll get out and find you something to use."

[liah]

"Sweet, thanks. I really appreciate it." I said as we cautiously made our way to the others. Every step I took was a step filled with pain, but I restrained from making that audible.
"Welcome back to the living, Sleeping Beauty." Joe said as Sam helped me take a seat at the table.
"Wouldn't have made it this far without you. Thanks, man. I really appreciate it. Honestly." I said and Joe nodded.
"No problem. My arms got a good workout from it." He joked, then turned his head to sneeze. "Tell them-" sneeze "the plan." sneeze.

[natcat]

Once I'd helped Daisy get into a seat at the table, I moved around to stand behind Nina who sat in front of the maps. It seemed she was much better at reading these than I was.
"So what's up?" I asked as Em walked over with a glass of water for Daisy.
"Well, if you look here." She pointed to the map that I'd found in this cabin, the cross scratched in red on the detailed drawing. "You thought maybe this might be the cabin we're in..." Nina looked at me and I nodded my head. "Well, if you compare it to this map here-" She pulled over one of the maps I'd grabbed from the base we'd recently left. "-You can see that it's actually some sort of large building. Maybe a warehouse, maybe another base, maybe another abandoned something. Maybe even an underground bunker. I don't know, it's hard to tell."
"Maybe that's where whoever lived here went." Joe suggested.
"Or avoided." Spencer added, Joe rolled his eyes.

[liah]

I thanked Em for the water and took a few sips. Nina explained what she thought the maps might lead to, but I was unsure where it might actually lead us.
"Well-" I chimed in. "Do you think it's a good idea to go there? To the building or whatever it is. I mean, what if it's nothing. What if whatever it is doesn't exist anymore. Then we're just stuck and out of luck."
"I think it's worth a shot. If it's nothing, then we keep moving. If it's something, then we're good." Joe shrugged his shoulders.
"But what if that something is bad." Spencer shot Joe a look. Joe ignored him.
"Looks guys. The best thing we can do is go check it out. If we sit here, I'm going to die from sneezing. Or worse, the Jaxlor's will find us and capture or kill us. We don't really have to many options here." Joe was adamant about leaving this place. I didn't blame him. It was old and dirty and full of creepy crawlers.
"Okay, but what about Daisy! We can't just keep drugging her up every time we need to go somewhere. She's going to end up overdosing!" Spencer yelled at Joe and everyone grew quiet, including me.

[natcat]

I looked between the brothers and tentatively opened my mouth to speak. "What if we send a search party out to see if it's anything worth all of us going to?"
Spencer started to open his mouth to protest but Em shut him up. "Hold on, Spencer." She looked at him and he bit his tongue. "It might be an idea. How far did you say it was from here, Nina?"
Nina sighed. "I didn't" Joe sneezed. "I haven't figured out where we are in relation to the cross."
"Well, if there's a search group of us going anywhere, I'm in. I can't stand this dust." Joe said with a sniff.
"But is it really a good idea to split up?" Spencer said, more calmly this time. "What if something happens, to either group? How are we supposed to talk to each other, to know that everyone is okay?"

[liah]

"If we make it there and everything is okay, we can send someone to come and pick you guys up." Joe wiped his nose with his forearm. "And if something happens to us I can shoot this up in the air." Joe dug through one of the many bags we'd brought along with us and pulled out a flare gun. "If you see the flare, that means something bad happened or is about to happen and to get out of this cabin. If we run into Jaxlor's and they see the flare, they'll know we're signaling someone else out there. They'll come looking for you." Joe sneezed a few times before taking a deep breath and continuing on. "If we leave in the morning, you can give us until nightfall. If no one comes for you by the next day, then we didn't get a chance to signal you and we've got our asses kicked." He paused. "We're kind of screwed either way. Might as well take a chance right? If we're good, you're good. If we're not-" Joe took a few quick breaths, preparing to sneeze, but it went away. "Then you run." He finished.

[natcat]

We sat in silence for a moment, contemplating our options.
"Do we even have to go there?" Spencer asked, looking at Nina. "Shouldn't we be trying to get away from all of this? I didn't think we were seeking out potential Jaxlor bases. Or even Tilerian bases. Seems like everyone is just as bad as each other out here."
I looked at the maps that lay on the table. He had a point.
"Let's not make any serious decisions yet." Nina said looking between all of us. "I'll keep looking at this map, see if I can find anything else, and we'll sleep here for the night. It doesn't look like this rain will be lifting anytime soon anyway, we might as well get the rest we need because we'll have to move out eventually."

[liah]

"You're right, Nina." Em ran a hand through her hair and sighed. "We get some rest and figure it all out tomorrow. Plus, the longer we're here, the quicker that leg of hers can heal up." Em nodded towards me.
"Fine. Good." Spencer walked away from the table with his book in hand. He returned to his spot on the half-ruined couch and continued where he left off reading.
I felt so awkward around everyone. They were for the most part, planning around me and my current situation. I felt bad but I couldn't help it.
"And I'm going to go back on the porch. I can't breathe in here." Joe took off towards the door, plopping down on the old wooden floorboards with a thud.

[natcat]

Nina shook her head. "Siblings." She muttered and smirked between Daisy and I.
"If there's anything I can do to help you with these maps, Nina, let me know." I told her with a nod.
She shrugged. "Thanks, though there's not much else aside from looking them over again. I might need a break though, I was beginning to go cross-eyed from staring at them for too long." She pushed back from the table and looked like she was about to follow Joe outside before she turned to Daisy. "It's good to see you up, you do look better than before already."

[liah]

"Thanks, I'm glad to be up." I gave Nina a small smile before she walked off to follow Joe. I turned to see Em take a seat on the floor close to Spencer. She leaned her head on the couch and closed her eyes for a nap. Spencer continued on with his book, taking almost no notice to his sister.
"So." I rested my hands down on the table. "What should we do next? Do you think these maps are going to be of any use to us?" I paused, looking them over. "We have some maps of our own that we took from the base right? Sam, it might be a good idea to compare them? That is, if we actually have them. I don't really remember."

[natcat]

"Yeah, good point." I looked around for the bag that we'd shoved them into earlier. Spotting it near Spencer and Em, I left to grab it, quickly returning as I rummaged through it. "Here we go." I said as I pulled the maps out of the bag. They were crumpled and slightly damp but still in a fine condition.
Dumping the bag on the floor, I unfolded the maps, smoothing them out next to the one that already lay on the table. "Hopefully these help." I said to Daisy. "Chances are they're exactly the same." I resisted crossing my fingers in hope that they'd be different.

[liah]

"I hope not." I watched Sam take the maps out from the bag and lay them on the table. "Let's see what we've got here." I looked over the maps for a few minutes, comparing and trying to match them up. Or find differences. After a while, I could swear my eyes were going to go crossed from starring at them so long.
"This one looks like a more updated version of the map we found here." I pointed to the map furthest to the left of me. "I can't seem to read it very well though."

[natcat]

I peered at the map Daisy was pointing to. "That's probably the most updated version of the map that's out there, look at the year." I tapped the top corner of the map where the year was printed neatly: 2016. I pushed away some of the other maps we'd found that had nothing to do with the area we were focusing on. "The rest are years old. Is there anything where the cross was on the older map? Roughly this area I think." I circled a patchy area of the map, trying to compare the other one at the same time.

[liah]

I examined both maps from where I sat, looking back and forth and back again. "There." I pointed to a spot on the newer map that looked like it had a building of some sort on it. "That's in the same area as this map." I tapped the older version of it. "A base? I'm not sure if it's ours or a Jaxlor base though." I paused for a moment. "That is- if it even is a base. But it's something and it might help." I rested my elbow on the table and leaned my cheek in my hand. "What do you suppose it is?"

[natcat]

"Not sure." I looked hard at the map, willing something to appear and give us some sort of clue. "At least we know there's definitely something there. Worth investigating? I don't know, I suppose we'll find out."
I sat back in my chair and stretched my arms out behind me. The rain was still pounding down on the tin roof above us. I was surprised there were no holes in this old cabin, must have been well built, though it was definitely cold. "Are you going okay? Want anything?" I asked Daisy as I folded my arms on top of the table.

[liah]

I could hear Joe and his sister talking about trying to make a new plan outside. It was very faint and I could every other word, but I could still hear them. Spencer still sat on the half cushioned couch as he read whatever book he had his face buried into.
"I'm alright." I nodded. "Thanks for asking, appreciate it." I gave him a small smile as I rested my hands in my lap. "How are you doing over there?" I asked in return. "You look a little sleepy."

[natcat]

I smiled at her concern. "I hadn't even really thought about that to be honest." I sat for a moment, taking a second to listen to my body, and suddenly felt the weight of my limbs. "Now that you mention it though..." I realised I was indeed tired, the last stretch of sleep I'd gotten had been rough. The tension that the night had brought wasn't exactly helpful when it came to a good night of rest. "But I don't know if I could sleep. I can't even relax." I confessed, glancing down at the worn corners of the old map we'd found. "I can't stop feeling like we're going to be caught at any second."

[liah]

"Honestly-" I started. "I think we're okay. I don't think they'll find us." I gave him a soft smile. "I don't know how we got here because I was out the whole time, but I don't feel like we're in danger." My eyes met his. "Give your eyes a break. I can only imagine how long you've been starring at these maps. Take a nap and recharge." I couldn't help but feel bad. I had been asleep for almost two full days. I'd slowed us down and now we were stuck in some old raggedy house in the middle of the woods. I was sure everyone needed sleep.

[natcat]

I thought for a moment, trying to find a reason to disagree with her. "Yeah, no, you're right. Seeing as we won't be doing anything else for the night." I stood up and looked over to the couch that Em was already passed out against, Spencer was curled into the corner of it; his eyes were quietly drooping as his head began sinking down into the old pages of his book.
"You've got the bed." I said to Daisy. "You're the injured one after all, so you should get more rest probably. I'm sure that's what Em would say anyway." I sent her a smile. "I'll take the old armchair in the corner." I said remembering the dusty seat I'd seen under a sideways lamp. "Do you need a hand to the bed? Or would you prefer to join Nina and Joe outside?"