On the road again...

"It's a little girl," Zack confirmed in whispered tones, not wanting to offend the little girl with his description. "Tiny, red haired and very dirty. Poor thing. She looks so lost. It doesn't look like anyone's been taking care of her for a long time."

"You... sure about that? She's not some kind of midget, maybe?" Seabay whispered back quietly, still a bit puzzled. "Marta's acting weird. She knows what kids are like--she'll never hurt one--but something must be off or she'd be a lot calmer."

As if to emphasize his point, the massive dog whined yet again, ears flattening.

"I think she might be a little off her rocker," Zack whispered, noting the distant look in her eyes as she looked right through him. "Maybe Marta senses that too."

Lia watched the girl a few moments, trying not to react too obviously to her. She glanced at Josh, then moved over to Zack and Seabay.

"She definitely seems a little...." Lia began trailing off as she glanced at her surreptitiously. "No wonder, though. She's apparently been living alone for quite awhile off of dirty water she thought was soup. Her parents are, well... You know."

Lia looked at the girl again, sadly. Everyone here knew what it was to lose someone you cared about, and she certainly empathized with the girl's reaction. She herself had gone into something of a fugue state after she had seen what she had seen.

"Her teddy bears may have been good tea companions, but crazy or no, there's no way we can just leave her here."

Once they'd gotten a bit closer, the vague little girl's stare focused a bit, fixing upon the whimpering mammal without taking in much else.

"Puppy..." she called, her singsong voice going very gentle. She didn't come close to the dog. In fact, though it could possibly be explained by her loose grasp on reality, she seemed entirely unphazed by the animal's response to her. A soft little smile flitted across her not quite vacant expression and she held a small, grubby pink hand to the creature. It was an invitation, but not a particularly insistent one.

She turned her gaze to Josh with her hand still outstretched in the same posture, as though her limbs didn't always change topics when her mind did. "Is the elf kingdom very far away?" she asked, tilting her head slightly to one side so that she looked a bit off balance, as though if she tilted just a little bit further something would give and she would come crashing backwards right on top of her bright red head. "I shouldn't mind if it were far away only sometimes you have to go by boat to far away places and I don't like to go by boat because I always feel I shall fall in and sink straight to the bottom and never see the sun again..." This last was explained with the same tone one might use to express a mild concern regarding the weather, rather than the tone one would use to express a child's fear of drowning and being trapped in darkness.

Suddenly, as though some fresh idea had occurred to her she whipped her gaze around on Zack and Seabay and said. "Are you elves also...?" She frowned a bit. "You're a bit short to be elves, you know. "

"Hey," Zack protested. "I'm still growing..." He hoped.

"I'm not," Seabay grumbled. "We're elves? I... don't know. Um... then what are you?" he asked the girl, brows furrowed in confusion, his eyes staring over her head.

Marta whined again, pressing closer to Seabay's leg. She didn't cower away, but she didn't approach that hand, either. The poor dog didn't know what to make of the human-machine-thing that seemed to be a child. And Seabay, equally at a loss, had no idea what kind of signal to give his guard. Her words, though, explained why Marta acted confused--if she was mentally affected, possibly damaged, by all that happened, then yes, no wonder her behavior left Marta toren between if she was a threat or friendly.

"Friendly, Marta," the blind teen murmured to his dog. Last thing he wanted was for her to misconstrue any of Hattie's actions as a threat when she was likely acting out of confused innocence. "Uh... were we introduced? I'm Seb--Sebastian, really--and this is Zack, the dog is Marta... and you met Lia and Josh... What's your name?"

Zack nodded. "We're not going overseas," he told her for Josh, who seemed grateful to be spared the need to do so himself. "Just driving. A lot."

Josh went to retrieve a large quantity of wet wipes and one of his shirts, hoping to clean her up a bit. Kneeling in front of her, he opened the container.

"Josh'll help you clean up a little, and maybe Lia can help you change into something clean before we go if you want," Zack suggested to her for him.

"My name is Hattie," the little girl said, flashing a smile that would have been dazzling if there were just a bit more focus in her expression. As it were, it looked strangely out of sync with the rest of her expression, adding to her off-ness until it disappeared.

She frowned faintly at Josh as he began to wipe her with cold disposable cloths. She looked at Zack with a sudden sharpness, her hands gripping her skirt in an odd way. "I like my dress. I don't want to wear other clothes. This is MY dress. This is what I wear." She sounded almost frantic and her hands had begun to twist anxiously at the dirty fabric.

"It's fine," Josh assured her, alarmed somewhat by her distress. "Wear your dress, Hattie." He finished cleaning her up as well as he could, looking to the others and sighing. He hoped that maybe they could find something clean she'd agree to wear, but for now they wouldn't push her.

"Ready to go?" Zack asked her and the others as Josh gathered the soiled wipes and disposed of them, then put the shirt back away.

The little girl responded instantly to the assurance that she could go on wearing her dress. Her expression smoothed back into its dreamy vagueness, and her hands fell limply to her sides. She brushed a hand back through her wild, tangled mess of red hair and ribbons, pushing it back behind her shoulders and out of her eyes.

"And you thought my feet smelled bad," Lia mumbled under her breath. There was no way that dress's smell was going to be pleasant in the close quarters the SUV offered. But, well, what else was there to do? Hattie had seemed genuinely freaked out by the idea of losing her dress. Maybe once they'd earned her trust further they might manage to get her to remove it at least long enough to wash it. At least, if the tattered thing could withstand that.

"Maybe I can brush your hair out for you?" Lia suggested, noting the girl's discomfort with it.

Then, another thought struck her.

"Hey, guys... Um, as much as I like the SUV, there's not exactly going to be tons of breathing room with someone else on board. The back seat is already kind of cramped with Seabay, Marta and I." It wasn't that she'd mind riding along with the girl, obviously, but they had to be practical. Not only was there no way it'd be comfortable to have all of them back there, but it'd also make it a LOT harder to move around and fight, as they'd had to do from the SUV before. There was also no way any of them would be able to jump ship and run with legs and feet that had fallen asleep from lack of space.

"I think we might have to downgrade in luxury to upgrade in size... thinking one of those 15 passenger vans or something?"

Josh considered that a moment then nodded.

"He wants us to keep our eyes open for a GMC Savannah or something like that." Zack told them for his brother. "Those are really reliable, and they're pretty roomy and comfortable. We should be able to ride for long periods without a problem, and they'll hold all our stuff."

Seabay waved for Hattie to get in before he or Marta did, so she could take the middle seat between him and Lia. Then he sat by the window, and Marta stretched out on the floor, pretty much covering it like a rolled up furry carpet. The blind teen set his feet on Marta's shoulders, for lack of other space.

"How about a military Hum-V or something?" he asked. "I don't know about you, but I wouldn't mind a machine-gun strapped to the roof..."

Still, something in him was reluctant to give up the SUV. Seabay had a past with it, good memories--and bad--starting from when he could still see. And he was sure nothing could outrun it right now, despite the problems with living space. But they needed something bigger with their new addition, and it had to be both comfortable enough for long drives and capable of handling the rough terrain.

It'd been a couple days... so the blind teen also began to wonder when they might find somewhere to take a bath, maybe even hole up for sleeping on actual beds... Or even what their destination was now.

"An RV might be nice, actually, but it wouldn't be very fast or durable if we get attacked... and a tank would be awesome but not move fast and be kinda cramped if we all fit in it at all."

Josh considered that a moment, then frowned. "Maybe we can do something to make the inside of the SUV more comfortable. If we replaced the seating with three heating, reclining buckets like these ones in front and moved them back slightly to give you guys more room? He thinks he might be able to tweak the space and still store our things," Zack said after several long moments. "Figures we can talk look at it more closely after we find a place to stop and rest."

At first Hattie didn't respond to Lia at all. She climbed in after the woman and before Seabay, gazing out the window at the run-down neighborhood and in the direction of the house she'd been found in. It had been a long time since she'd set out to go anywhere and she felt that peculiar child's mixture of excitement at the unknown and anxiety at leaving what was familiar to her, but felt through a sort of fog of unawareness, as though her emotions were stored in a separate compartment in her head from the one she resided in at the moment.

She blinked a couple of times, slowly as though she were set at a slightly lagging tempo from the average person, seeming entirely unaware of the conversation that went on about her until, withouth so much as glancing at anyone, she suggested, "Why don't you re-enforce the body so you can make a safe compartment for your things on top so that you have more space to work with when you make the modifications...?"

The suggestion didn't seem to be addressed at anyone in particular, and her gaze never left the view out the window. Then, without so much as a hint at what was about to happen, she sagged a bit in her seat and went entirely motionless, except for the steady rise and fall of her chest.

"What the heck?" Zack exclaimed, watching her closely. "Did she just run out of batteries or something?" He glanced at his brother. "Okay... um... well... Josh could probably do that. And maybe even mount some weapons or something like that along with the mods he mentioned, but it'd mean having to find a place to stop for a day or two... maybe three... and finding someplace with the tools and parts he needs." He frowned and shook his head at his brother, went wide eyed, then frowned again before saying in a tone thick with displeasure. "He might have to leave us holed up somewhere a day or two while he did the work." Zack rolled his eyes and groaned. "Really?" he asked his brother before proceeding, "But first, I guess, we're going to find Hattie some 'necessities'."

Zack watched the little girl curiously, surprised by the absence of expression or sound . "Are you sure she's okay?" he asked for the hundredth time.

Josh sighed.

"I know," Zack replied, " but still. She's just ...you know...staring..."

Josh shot him an irritated glance.

Zack squirmed uncomfortably. "Sorry," he mumbled.

Lia stretched not far off, tired of the now even more cramped car. "So, what, we're supposed to wait until she wakes up? Who knows how long she'll be out this time."

"Well, she's breathing," Seabay commented wryly. "I can hear that much..."

"Why does she sleep with her eyes open, though?" Zack demanded. "What kid does that?"

"This one, I guess," the blind teen sighed. "Somehow she' survived this long like this... Maybe there's something to it. If we can ever figure it out. Meanwhile, what do we do about her?"

Josh drove into a small town, stopping in front of what appeared to have once been a Target.

"I guess we're getting her clothes," Zack replied. After a beat, he groaned. "No...come on...why can't Lia do it? Josh..."

"I hate to suggest we split up, but... Well, we need to go in to that market. But we obviously can't make her come with us either..." Lia continued, glancing at the Target. "Why can't I do what?" she asked.

"Something coherent please," Seabay sighed. "Not all of us are psychic twins."

"Stay with....oh, nevermind," Zack sighed as Josh got out and started to walk toward the gaping hole that one assumes used to be the store front. "it looks like he expects us ALL to wait here with her."

Josh drew his gun, approaching the store cautiously.

Lia looked at Josh's retreating back. "Yeah, right," she said, darting out of the car after him. "Hey, I might need some clean underwear too, you know," she called.

"That's more coherent," Seb chuckled, squirming in the back. "Hell, if we're going to sit here, can I get out? There's no room left--I've a dog heavier than me laying on me here."

"I think we're supposed to...LIA!" Zack called after her. "no way! DANGIT!" He groaned. "Does she ever listen? He said 'lock up and wait.' What part of that did she not hear?"

"All of it--neither of you actually /said/ it," Seabay grumbled. "Like I said, the rest of us aren't psychic twins."

"We're not twins, and I'm not..." Zack began before catching himself. "Sorry. He didn't say it out loud?" He sat back against the seat cushion, frowning. "it's him, not me," he mumbled, getting grumpier by the minute.

"Zack," Seb sighed, "since /when/ does Josh say much of /anything/ out loud? Keep in mind--he's Lia's most enjoyable joke on that..."

"He does say stuff though. I sort of just assume most of the time it's she doesn't listen." Zack admitted.

"C'mon, Zack--use your ears. All I'm getting is crickets most of the time," the blind teen answered, shifting stiffly. "And keep in mind, I hear pretty well these days... Anyway, I'm for a walk with Marta. Much more in here, and I'm not going to be able to get the kinks out for weeks." Seabay grabbed the door and let himself tumble out, Marta eagerly scrambling to follow.

"why not," Zack sighed. "He's already gonna be ticked. What's one more?" Zack replied to their retreating backs. "No problem...I'll watch sleeping beauty here...you go ahead...knock yourselves out..." He watched Seb exit, growing less pleased by the moment. "I heard him," he insisted to the catatonic child in the seat behind him. "you did too, right?"

***

Josh stopped inside the entrance, frowning, sniffing the air lightly. At Lia's approach he sighed audibly, his brow shooting up beneath dark curls before he shook his head and gestured for her to get behind him.

"Helllooooo," Lia nagged at Josh. When he gestured for her to move behind him, she sighed audibly in response and did so, though she continued peering around him. "What?"

Josh rolled his eyes, then moved forward slowly, cautiously, gun raised. Near what used to be the foot court area a low growling sound could be heard.

Lia frowned and ducked a bit down, though she kept her eyes peeled outwards. "Sounds friendly," she quipped

Josh shot her a disbelieving look. she was kidding, right? Shaking his head again, he ducked below the retaining area and moved forward slowly.

Josh's look wasn't lost on Lia. "Kidding," she grumbled. "Ever hear of sarcasm?" Her voice was now a loud whisper as she followed after him

He shrugged at her grumbling as he gestured toward a bank of registers, indicating she should go first while he held his gun at ready, in case any of the currently feeding creatures noticed her movement.

"What are they even eating?" Lia asked, peering at them quickly. "Never mind, I don't want to know," she corrected herself before dashing toward the registers.

The strange crunching noises being made suddenly halted, as if something were pausing...listening...then resumed as if they'd decided it was nothing.

Josh moved silently after her. Reaching her, he paused, peering into the darkness, then moving forward down a narrow aisle, gesturing for her to follow behind him.

"You know, the service at Wal-Mart is friendlier," Lia commented as she followed after him. "Not quite so... well, monstrous."

Back near the snack area, a low moan, then cry is heard as the crunching starts again...

"It must really like its chocolate," Lia continued her whispered commentary as she moved after Josh, confident that whatever it was far enough and busy enough not to hear. After all, who could pick up anything over the crunching in one's ears. "What's the plan? I mean... we could just go to a different, /non/ infested store for clothes for her, you know."

"We're here," Josh answered simply as he reached the children's area. As long as everyone else stayed in the car, he could - he hoped - keep himself and Lia safe long enough to get what they needed and get back out of here.

Lia glanced at the clothing around them. "Well, these are really last season, but they'll do," she quipped before beginning to grab at some of the nearest, more essential items that seemed to be Hattie's size. "Do you have somewhere to put this stuff?'

Josh looked around a moment, then held up a finger and dashed off silently to return a moment later with a large camping pack. Looking around at the things a moment, he almost smiled as he began to take all the frilly little pink dresses he could find in her size and stuff them into the pack along with the 'essentials'.

The dancer sighed and shook her head. Not all girls liked frills, but who was she to say Hattie didn't? She stuffed a few pairs of pants in there, then said, "I think she could use some shoes, too. Think we can get to that department?"

Josh nodded. He'd supposed that, too. He grabbed one last dress, noting how similar it was to the one she already wore, then gestured for her to follow again.

Along the way, Josh snagged hair accessories, socks, underclothing and a coat for the child, just in case, hoping Lia wouldn't bother commenting on his actions. Finally reaching the shoe section, he held back, clenching his teeth.

"Noooo..." someone cried out before the sound of snapping bone and screaming issued forth from there.

Josh's selection of girl's accessories wasn't lost on Lia, but she didn't have the time to joke about that before she heard a human's scream. "There are /people/ here?" Lia asked, nausea suddenly mounting. "Oh gross. What /is/ that thing? Maybe we should forget the shoes and just go," Lia nudged. Whatever living people had been in here, she doubted there were any left now.

Josh hesitated but nodded. Yeah...there was no way to get past those things.

A loud growl one aisle over from them made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. Were they surrounded?

***

"So," Zack said to the still 'sleeping' child. "Read any good books lately?"

Seabay held onto Marta's harness and they wandered around the parking lot...

"Seb, don't go too far," Zack called out, suddenly torn. Stay in the car with the kid or go after Seb and Marta?

Marta paused in her tracks, growling softly, then started to pull Seabay back towards the car. "Hell... What are they, Marta?" the teen asked his dog. She just growled again, low and deep, making Seabay curse. "Mutants... Damn it, never any clean places left." Reaching the car, he rapped on the glass. "We got trouble, Zack!"


Seb's alert was answer enough for Zack. He jumped out of the car, weapon drawn, and locked it - with the child still in it - behind him. "What's going on?" he asked Seb. "are they hurt?"

Seabay shook his head, frowning. "I don't know. Marta just picked up mutants in the area from the parking lot. The sooner we get out of here, the better."

"Mutants?" Zack exclaimed. "Crap!" He began to rush toward the entrance. "We've got to go after them. They could be in real trouble."


"What about /her/? We can't just abandon her and the car," Seabay called after Zack, a thumb gesturing at their sole means of escape.

"What am I supposed to do?" Zack protested. "She's safe there. It's locked up. but they might not be...."

"I don't know," Seb answered, grimacing. "I mean, I can send Marta after them, but that's about it."

"I'm going after my brother," Zack announced. "I let him get hurt once already, remember?"

"Maybe they'll come out on their own? I mean, we haven't heard anything yet," Seabay offered hopefully. "I'm hardly any help in this, I know, but /someone/ has to stay here."

"You're more help than she is," Zack retorted.

"Well, I can hardly just run in there, guns blazing," Seabay told Zack, shrugging. He waved a hand before his own unseeing eyes. "Blind, remember? Not very good aim when running."

"I don't aim so good when running either," Zack admitted, flustered. "and I don't want to leave you here...or her...but still. I mean...it's Josh..."

Running a hand through his hair, Seabay leaned against the hood of the car. "Then we have only one thing left." Bending, he pulled Marta's harness off. "Go find Josh and Lia, Marta--help them!" The dog sped off into the building...

***

For once, Lia didn't have a witty commentary for the growl that came from nearby. She looked back the way they had come. "Back?" she suggested, knowing there was probably more hiding in the darkness beyond than she cared to know.

Josh nodded, hoping those from the snack bar hadn't decided to go in search of anyone else.

Lia scrambled behind Josh, trying not to breathe heavily as she moved, mostly out of fear. Those growls seemed to have been moving closer. Were they tracking them somehow? She hoped that the reason they were still alive was, indeed, because they hadn't been detected, rather than that whatever these were, they were toying with them.

Josh moved carefully forward, gesturing for Lia to stay close to him. He inched back the way they'd come, halting again as the sound of shuffling approaching.

The creatures that had been in the snack food area were no longer there. The area was slick with blood and bits of bone, but no mutants were in sight...

Again, Lia nearly lost her last meal. Poor sucker, whoever it had been. "Let's just hurry..." She tried to walk around the blood, to avoid getting her shoes slick for fear of slipping on the tile with limited success.

The large German Shepherd trailed, using scent to follow friends, yet edged warily along, cautious of other creatures, especially the potential of mutants attacking /her/.

A hand reached out and grabbed Lia's hair, drawing her head back toward the shelving.

The scream that escaped Lia was involuntary, but reflexive. The moment it was out, she knew she had called the rest of the monsters down on them.

Josh swore silently and flew into action, firing over Lia's head into the shelves, then drawing her back to him once whatever had her let go. "Shoot behind us," he told her, drawing her in his wake, firing ahead of them. A whimpering sound came from their left, but Josh was hard put to stop. He needed to get Lia out of here...

Lia scrambled after Josh, slipping as she went from the blood that had permeated the aisle already.

Josh kept one hand on Lia's arm, hauling her back to her feet as she slid, while firing with the other hand.

She should have long-since learned to stop asking, and yet still, the words were out - "What the hell was that?" She finally managed to get her bearings enough to pull out her own handgun and shoot behind her as well.

"trouble," Josh answered after a beat. What else could it have been? He smiled when he heard Marta ahead. Gods, but he loved that dog. Dragging Lia along, he fired high, doing his best to ensure he'd hit only the enemy and not their four legged ally.

Marta went directly for one of the mutants between herself and Lia and Josh, setting into a dash and leaping for the back of the neck on one of the mutants near the exit nearest the car. Savagely ripping teeth into flesh, she gave a shove and a wriggle designed to break a larger beast's neck, before disengaging and leaping for the next nearest her.

One of the creatures behind them approached. Large, lumbering, and nearly purple of hue it moved surprisingly fast in their wake. As it approached it bared large, long, sharp teeth, opening it's maw and leaning toward Lia as it moved closer and closer...

Josh hit the next nearest Marta square in the middle of the forehead as he dragged Lia ahead, skidding in the blood and sliding toward the fourth

Lia's instincts went into action as the creature came closer. She didn't hesitate to pull the trigger straight into the open mouth. "Marta!" she called relieved, though she was simultaneously concerned the canine would get itself hurt as well.

The large dog finished off her second mutant, letting go and bouncing back a length as it hit the ground, her maw dripping with blood and bits of flesh. She turned towards the fourth, and crouched, snarling at it. It was facing her--she could not just leap on it unaware like the other two. Instead, she took a chance and went for an arm like a trained police-dog, to yank the beast off-balance and towards the ground with her sheer weight and a lot of shaking of the limb.

Feeling himself losing his footing, Josh released Lia's arm, deciding it was better than taking her down with him. He went down hard, sliding rapidly into the wall even as the fourth creature...with Marta attached...went down in the slick substance as well...

Marta took this opportunity to release that arm and go for the mutant monster's neck instead, like any efficient predator.

The other two mutants approaching from behind seemed to be catching up. one was wounded and howling angrily...

Lia stumbled as Josh fell, though she managed to regain her footing and shoot the one lunging at her again, several times for good measure. "you okay?" she asked him absently, knowing any attempt to help him up would only make things more awkward in terms of footing and movement.

Josh nodded in answer to Lia's question, trying to ignore how every inch of his body ached after slamming into the wall, then spied the trouble approaching in the form of the previously wounded mutant.

"MARTA PROTECT LIA," Josh called, trying a moment to regain his footing before giving up and simply drawing himself up to his knees and firing past her.

The wounded one was hit again...and again...and then again before finally falling and staying down.

Lia grimaced. "What the hell? She's doing just fine! So am I!" the dancer insisted. "Come on, let's just get out of here," she suggested, nodding toward the exit.

Marta simply spread front paws wide in a firm stance and snarled at their enemies, on guard if any get close again. Clearly the exit was now safe, for them to retreat through, or she'd react to anything there.

The last one approached, swiping a large hand at Marta, but not touching her. Josh rose slowly, now covered with blood and limped toward the exit, gun still aimed at the last of the creatures, though it seemed to be holding back as if uncertain what to do about the growling creature between it and its food. He paused so Lia could exit first, determined to ensure her safety.

Marta barked firmly at the creature that had swung at her, lunging but not trying to grapple--yet--keeping bared sharp teeth between the teens and the monster.

Lia, herself covered in gore hobbled toward the exit. "Come on!" she yelled. Somehow, these things seemed to prefer the darkness of the inside of this place. Once they made it out, they should be safe.

Josh followed her in wake, keeping his gun aimed at the last creature. Once he was certain he and Lia were in the sunlight, he gave a low whistle to Marta.

"Marta come!" Lia added to Josh's whistle.

Marta backed a safe distance at that whistle, then whirled and dashed after the teens.

***

"What the heck?" Zack hissed when he spied Josh and Lia, both limping out and covered in blood. "Oh man..." He opened the car doors and, gun out, began setting out the first aid supplies.

"We're fine," Lia preempted Zack, "or at least, I am. It's not... it's not mine," she said, registering for the first time just how many people had only just died inside. She hoped they weren't leaving anyone behind.

Marta came trotting after Josh and Lia, panting smugly. "Good girl, Marta!" Seabay called. The dog moved to go greet her master...

"She's a real lifesaver," Lia agreed, smiling brightly at the canine.

Josh grabbed a towel and tossed it over the dog quickly.

"Um...Seb..she needs a bath, man," Zack offered. "She's covered in blood and ...stuff..."

Josh began peeling off layers above the waist, tossing the pack for Hattie aside as he reached for another, seeking wet wipes and clean clothes.


"I need a bath too," Lia agreed, grabbing for her own bag from the SUV. "I think I'll just... head behind that bush, maybe, or something."

Josh tossed her pack to Lia and a package of baby wipes.

" I think he wants you to wash all that..." Zack gestured to the nastiness all over her. "yeah...you really do..."

"Thanks," the dancer said quickly, trying hard not to blush at Josh's sudden display. "Whatever, Pipsqueak," she said, trying hard for a good comeback but having only a weak one. "No peeking!' Lia then said, dashing behind the shrubbery in question.


Seabay grimaced, but tried to be careful at that news, so as not to get covered himself, and to try using the towel to wipe the worst off her for now. "Ewww... Well, good girl, Marta, even if you're a mess... and smelly... Good Smelly!" he laughed, making much of her. "My Good Smelly!"

Zack laughed at Seb as Josh handed him another pack of baby wipes for the dog. "Here...you can clean her up with these. I'll help if you want." he said, pressing the plastic package into Seb's hands.


"Yeah, I think we need the help," Seabay agreed. "Um... should we be running, though? Or was it taken care of?"

Josh wiped almost desperately at the gore, the absolute uncleanliness of him hitting him abruptly as the wipe after wipe was set aside, completely covered in it.

"I think we should get out of here before nightfall, but we're okay for now," Lia answered from behind her so-called changing-screen.

Zack watched his brother a moment, then sighed. "Yeah..we're okay," he reiterated, hoping Josh would catch on.

"That's a relief... I think," Seabay sighed. He sensed Zack's pause, and shrugged. "I can manage Marta, if you need to help Josh."

Josh continued scrubbing until the wipes began to come away clean, then donned fresh shirts. A tank...a tee...a long sleeved shirt...a sweater..and finally a clean jacket.

"no....it's okay..." Zack responded slowly. " I think he's got it..."

Josh moved off to repeat the process with the lower half of his body.

Lia finally reemerged from her own shrubs, having left the discarded clothing where it was to don clean ones. "Well, I hope Hattie appreciates our efforts when she comes out of this one. I even lost some of /my/ best clothing to get her her dresses and accessories," she said, eyeing Josh mischievously.

"You okay, Lia?" Zack asked after a few minutes. "Are you sure you're not hurt?"

"I'm fine," she sighed. "Out of bullets, though." She tossed her emptied gun into her bag for now. She could reload it later.

Josh returned, frowning at Lia's comments. He looked back toward the store, as if contemplating going back in to get her more things if she really needed them. If he went in carefully, he might manage it.

"Okay..." Seabay smiled a bit at Lia's complaint. "Well, at least she slept through it all? Maybe we can drop by one of the supply depots in this area, next. I'm sure they'd have bullets..."

"We've got another clip or two I think," Zack offered. "We'll probably need to find more soon, but at least you can reload for now."

Josh nodded at that, reloading his own weapon, still eyeing the store.

"Josh, it's fine," Lia sighed, noting the look in his eye. "I don't need accessories, either. Can we please just get going?"

The blind teen made a face. "Don't tell me you guys want to return to Mutant Depot?"

"Seabay's right. We'll stop somewhere else, maybe have Marta sniff it out FIRST, and go from there." Lia agreed.

"No, us guys don't," Zack stressed. "We just needs to go." After a moment, he asked, his voice filled with concern, "What happened in there, Josh? you never used to get caught by them..."

Josh just shrugged, bagging what he'd taken off, reluctant to lose the thick army jacket but seeing no real way around it, before disposing of it all.

To demonstrate her point, Lia tossed her bag back into the van and climbed in. "Come on, slow pokes. Chop chop. Don't want whatever's in there to come charging out, now do we?"

Zack got in, his brow furrowed. "He never used to get caught. He always got our stuff when we needed it because he could go in, get what he needed and get out."

Josh climbed in and started the car. It didn't matter what had distracted him. What mattered was that he couldn't let it happen again.

Seabay wriggled into the back with Marta finally. "So, what changed?"

"Everyone slips, Zack," Lia said, leaning back in her seat. "Maybe he's just having an off day. Or maybe he /really/ wanted to get Hattie some new clothes and thought the risk was worthwhile."

"Dunno," Zack pouted. "Maybe he had problems before and never said. I mean....I always waited in the car, so I guess I could have missed more than I thought..."

"Maybe. Not like we're getting it out of him anyways," Lia pointed out, resting her head back.

"I guess so," Zack replied. He glanced back at Hattie. "Can one of you check to make sure she's still breathing..."

"She's fine," Lia answered impatiently.

Josh almost laughed, shaking his head as he pulled out of the parking lot. Nothing like shopping with the family...

"You can always try wriggling it out of his brain with that silent talk you two use?" Seabay suggested, smiling mischievously.

"I don't wriggle nothing out of nobody's brain, only he can..." Zack stopped, eyes wide, covering his mouth. 'I mean..." he continued after a moment. "nevermind....it doesn't matter."

Lia's eyebrow raised, though she refrained from further comment. It wasn't as though they hadn't figured out /something/ was up with their resident silent-oddball.

The blind teen made a face at that information. "Aw hell..."