Voyagers of the Storm - An Interactive Story

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  • [Agree to the move, making the group less of a target]

    The organization has found and knows about their base. They have to move to a different location now.

    3.5 Joseph and Eris tried to ease the nerves of the others in the bunker and convince them that Elizabeth and Marshal had just left the b

  • The organization has found and knows about their base. They have to move to a different location now.

    It’s possible they’ll lose the Organization if they move quick enough, but their losses surely won’t be limited to just the Organization in either sitatuion.

    [Agree to the move, making the group less of a target] The organization has found and knows about their base. They have to move to a different location now.

  • [Disagree to the move, multiple members aren’t capable of going distances]

    I really liked Alyssa and Milo scene.

    3.5 Joseph and Eris tried to ease the nerves of the others in the bunker and convince them that Elizabeth and Marshal had just left the b

  • I really liked Alyssa and Milo scene.

    After some undetermined amount of time together st the Organization, it’s safe to assume they know each other pretty well and are good friends, but it’s also reasonable to say Alyssa didn’t talk much about her personal life because of the chip.

    Mathea posted: »

    [Disagree to the move, multiple members aren’t capable of going distances] I really liked Alyssa and Milo scene.

  • 12-24-2186

    While winter was Elizabeth’s least favorite season, one of her favorite days of the year was in the season.

    The Voyagers had never been prone to celebrating any holidays because of their situation, but Elizabeth had spent years warming them up to the idea.

    She knew who she had to appeal to this year to get the others to fall in line. She knew she would have to get Eris and Morgan in the spirit to get Joseph and Lecia to consider participating.

    Filip and Cyrus just enjoyed the mood of the people in the bunker and would participate to see a elevated morale, Milo would participate just to keep Elizabeth happy and off his case for another year.

    The only person who outright refused to accept the cheeriness and often disappeared for the day was Marshal, he said it was for his own reasons but it wasn’t a secret that Elizabeth had been growing more irritated at his dismissal of it. Most the group already knew that she was taking his dismissal personally and the wrong way, but that correcting her would be taken the wrong way.

    Milo already knew about Elizabeth’s plan beforehand and knew that the bunker would look different the morning of the 24th because of her, like it normally did. Much to his and the other’s surprise, nothing had changed and her act had toned down significantly from other years. In fact, she didn’t even acknowledge the date and acted like it was any other day.

    Eris was the first to question it at breakfast. “Elizabeth, could you tell me the date? I lost track after the 20th.”

    She checked her watch and nodded. “Yep, it’s the 24th of December.”

    Eris looked at her with confusion before returning to her meal. “Great, thanks.”

    The entire group noticed something was up when Elizabeth gave the date without getting jittery and excited about it.

    “Lizbeth, got any plans for today or tomorrow?” Milo took his turn questioning her.

    She stopped eating for a moment before shrugging and shaking her head. “Nothing set in stone, why?”

    “No reason, I was just wondering because I thought today would be a pretty big day for you.”

    Milo looked to Joseph, knowing he could question her better as the leader. “Did something happen last night? You seem to be acting a little strange.”

    She waved her hand in dismissal and chuckled. “Nothing happened and there’s nothing to worry about, I’m just thinking of some stuff.”

    Cyrus exchanged glances with the other group members before clearing his throat. “Could your thoughts have something to do with the date?”

    “Nothing other than the thoughts are being thought on December 24th.” She smirked.

    At the opposite end of the table, Morgan stood up and slammed her hands on the table, grabbing everyone’s attention. “Elizabeth, it’s Christmas Eve! That’s what they’re trying to tell you!”

    Elizabeth’s smirk faded and she nodded. “That seems to be the case, but I really don’t have anything planned this year, I’m sorry to disappoint you guys but I’ve been busy.”

    Morgan sat back down, looking a bit defeated. “You were busy every year up until this point and you still did something those years, what’s so different about this year?”

    Elizabeth shrugged and Marshal sighed from his seat next to Milo. “I think I know the difference in the years. She’s upset because I don’t want to be involved in the celebration and so she thinks that having no celebration is the best way to keep from hurting anyone.” He looked past Milo to Elizabeth. “Is that right or not?” She nodded, keeping her silence. “So because of my actions, you’re going to break your own tradition that you’ve got the rest of the group hooked on. That’s not exactly fair.”

    She looked like she was about to go off on him but held her words after meeting eyes with Morgan. “You’re right, it’s not. Let it be a lesson on changing times.”

    He rolled his eyes and left the table, Elizabeth following after.

    The rest of the group finished their breakfast in silence, most of them shocked at Elizabeth’s sudden pessimistic change of heart.

    After breakfast, the group went their separate ways, most of them going to their rooms. Morgan had gone to look for Elizabeth and Marshal to confront the both of them.

    She found them fighting over something that Elizabeth claimed was important that Marshal didn’t see the importance of.

    Marshal left when their argument finished and Morgan followed him out after telling her mother that he said she could go, which was a little lie for a good reason.

    He wasn’t happy to see her out of the bunker and even told her to go back multiple times until they reached the truck and he gave up on making her go back. Instead, he lectured her about sitting in the back and wearing a seatbelt because winter was a dangerous time to travel.

    It was well below freezing temperatures, which made Morgan regret leaving without a heavy coat, one of the main reasons Marshal had told her to go back.

    After Jonas’ death, the scouts involved agreed to play a paternal role for Morgan to help Lecia, as they each knew she was already having a difficult time with raising her. Truth be told, the main problem was that Jonas was a scout, never around and always putting his own life on the line. Lecia would say it was a decent lesson to teach Morgan but she didn’t enjoy that it was her husband of all people teaching that lesson.

    Morgan had grown accustomed to being around the scouts more than most people in the bunker and often enjoyed spending time with them because it meant she was going to learn or do something she thought was cool.

    The scouts kept a set of a pillow and a blanket in the truck for whenever Morgan came with any of them because she normally fell asleep on the ride wherever they went. While they had gotten used to the discomfort of riding in such close quarters to each other, it was something they all agreed that Morgan shouldn’t get used to.

    It wasn’t ten minutes into the ride that Morgan started questioning Marshal. “Where are we going?”

    He knew she was questioning because she was interested in what they were doing, but the questions she normally asked didn’t bother him much. “I need to go get something from the city. We’re going to stop on the way to get you a coat.”

    Morgan didn’t have a bigger coat that she needed, mainly because Lecia didn’t like her going out during the winter because of the dangerous temperatures. “Will we stop for lunch?”

    He chuckled, his eyes fixed on the road. “You just finished breakfast and you’re already thinking about lunch?” The girl nodded in the rear-view mirror. “If you’re awake around lunch time then we’ll make a stop, if not then we’ll stop for dinner.”

    She laid down across the backseat, pulling the blanket up to her chin. “When can you turn the heater on?”

    He looked to the clock before looking back at the road, a look of concern on his face. “Give it ten more minutes to warm up, you think you can make it?”

    At that point Morgan had bundled herself in the blanket and accepted that it was going to be a long ten minutes without the heater. “What are we going to the city for?”

    “A few things, but it would ruin the surprise if I told you so far in advance.”

    The response threw Morgan off. Marshal was usually the most honest with her, even being the first to tell her about the day Jonas died when she asked instead of avoiding the question. Why would he want to hide the reason for going into the city?

    As curious as she was, she dropped it and dozed off once he turned on the heater.

    She woke up on her own later on to find they were still driving but the sun had now been clouded over and snow was now falling. She shot up and started staring out of the window when she saw it, a wide smile taking over.

    Morgan didn’t often get to see the outside world and she saw snow even less even though it did snow every winter. The scouts tried to give her as many opportunities to see it as they could because they knew Lecia didn’t like her going out during winter, let alone the snow. She was lucky the snow hadn’t started before they left or Lecia would have said no.

    “When did it start snowing?” She looked at the stereo clock to find that she’d only been asleep for two hours.

    “I’m guessing right after you fell asleep.” He chuckled, keeping his attention focused on the new hazard. “I tried to tell you but you didn’t answer when I said something about it.”

    She could tell they’d reached the point where they needed to walk to keep from drawing attention because he pulled over and turned off the truck. He gave her his heavy jacket because she didn’t have her own and the two started walking once they got out.

    They walked to the clothing store, both of them trying to not slip on the icy sidewalks as they went.

    “Pick what you want, but don’t get something that’s too small, too big, or something that’s not going to keep you warm.” Right after the instructions, Morgan was gone to look for a jacket.

    She enjoyed going to the shops because she got to experience what most people in the bunker didn’t but she also got to feel like a normal kid.

    She picked out a blue jacket that she liked the most and returned to Marshal. He voiced a concern about the snow getting heavier and decided to make a set out of the jacket along with a pair of gloves, a scarf, a new pair of winter boots, and a beanie to keep her warm.

    Morgan didn’t know where the scouts got the money they did, but she knew they all had it. Filip was usually the most willing to spend on her, Cyrus would use it as a lesson whenever she was around, and Marshal would always advise her to spend wisely.

    They left the clothing store once Morgan gave Marshal his own jacket back and started a walk deeper into the city. They stopped for lunch like Morgan had asked. They went to a pizza parlor, a type of food Morgan didn’t get to have often.

    Afterwards, he let her get a hot chocolate from a coffee shop but told her that he needed to focus on what he originally came to the city for, which was something she still didn’t know.

    They stopped by multiple shops before he decided they needed to leave the city.

    They went back to the truck and he put the bags in the passenger seat. The snowfall had slowed, but the ice still scared Morgan enough to make her hesitant to get in on her own.

    She went to climb in and felt her heel kick towards the air. She landed in the snow behind her and pushed herself off the ground.

    She expected Marshal to be a bit worried, but he laughed about it, which did upset her for a minute. She made a snowball in her gloves and threw it at him. “It’s not funny.”

    He stopped laughing and waited for her to try to get in the truck again. She turned her back to him and heard something hit the back of her jacket. She jumped back and made another snowball, preparing to throw it.

    Lecia Albero

    After Morgan had left, Lecia started to work in the kitchen.

    She and Marshal had made an agreement earlier in the week and this was her part of the agreement, which she didn’t really mind.

    A few group members had questioned her on why she was in the kitchen all day compared to her usual times, but she avoided the question. She didn’t even tell Eris about the plan and could tell she grew suspicious every time she came through the kitchen.

    She’d seen the least of Elizabeth and Joseph that day, which was only new for Joseph but she didn’t have time to worry about it.

    Most of what she was making was being prepared so she could heat it up whenever she was ready to, but some stuff needed to be frozen a few hours in advance, which was the only problem she’d run into.

    Cyrus, Filip, and Milo came into the kitchen later in the evening, all of them looked suspicious of Lecia. “Have you seen Marshal and Morgan today?”

    She nodded. “He took her out this morning after breakfast and said he’d be back before sunset.”

    “He didn’t tell us anything about leaving, why is that?” After Milo asked his question, Elizabeth came into the kitchen with a mischievous smile on her face.

    Lecia shrugged. “Maybe he forgot, maybe he did tell you and you three just forgot.”

    “He did tell you guys, he told me too.” Elizabeth took a seat on one of the barstools, nearly knocking over a bottle of cinnamon with her arm when she did.

    Filip crossed his arms, not seeming too convinced in what Elizabeth or Lecia said. “And where did he say he was going?”

    “He didn’t tell any of us that part.” She spun in the seat to face Lecia. “But I’ve got a feeling Lecia knows.”

    Lecia saw the other scouts faces lighten up at Elizabeth’s singsong tone. “Why would I know, Elizabeth? It seems like you’re just throwing accusations around.”

    She smiled and rested her chin on her hand. “Yeah, you’re kind of right.”

    The scouts left the kitchen but Elizabeth stayed, just watching Lecia work. “Why are you here watching me when you can just watch over the camera?”

    Elizabeth looked to the camera before leaving her seat and pulling a chair under the camera. “Something broke the camera between last night and this morning and I can’t watch, but I feel we can bond if I sit there in silence and prove that I know how to stop talking.”

    Lecia looked over to see Elizabeth standing in the chair, looking over the camera with a disappointed look on her face. “You don’t have to be silent to get along with me, you know that.”

    She stepped down from the chair and pushed it back into the table with a frown. “Someone snapped an important wire.”

    Elizabeth returned to the stool she was seated in before, her frown remaining. “Is that something difficult to fix?”

    “It’s pretty hard to fix when you don’t have a proper replacement for it, yes.” Lecia noticed Elizabeth sounded quite upset about the wire.

    “I’m sure you’ll get it figured out later tonight, you’re quite crafty.”

    She didn’t respond to the comment about the wire, but she seemed like she had a question to ask Lecia. She kept quiet for a few more minutes before sighing. “This might be an awkward question for you, but I wanted to know what’s going on with you and Marshal. You two have been pretty tight knit lately and Morgan clings to him like he’s her actual father.”

    “There’s nothing going on, he’s just working with me to give Morgan the best we can.” Lecia knew Elizabeth wouldn’t comment on it anymore, but she could see what would confuse Elizabeth about their interactions together lately. “Why do you ask?”

    She smiled before leaving her seat again. “No reason.”

    Elizabeth went towards the doorway, stopping when Lecia spoke again. “You don’t have to lie to me about that. It’s clear to me that you have feelings for him, otherwise you wouldn’t care about his absences from the holidays as much as you do. I bet if Filip slipped out on a celebration, you wouldn’t care as much as you seem to for Marshal.”

    “You’re right, but it would only be different because I haven’t known Filip as long as I have Marshal and Filip isn’t the closest friend that my brother knows.”

    Lecia turned to face Elizabeth, brushing her hands off on her apron. “Wash your hands, I need your help if I’m going to finish in time.”

    Elizabeth groaned as she walked away from the doorway. “What am I being punished for?”

    Lecia washed her own hands before returning to the counter. “Where should I start with that question? Oh, I know, lying to me and yourself. Is that a good enough reason for you?”

    Before Elizabeth could respond, the door to the pantry opened and Joseph walked out, both of the women immediately turning their attention to him. “When did you leave?”

    He gave the two a smile before leaving the kitchen without answering Elizabeth’s question.

    The two women looked to each other before they both started cracking up. “Did you know he left?”

    Lecia shook her head. “He must have left before Marshal did because I didn’t come out here until he took Morgan and I never saw Joseph once after breakfast.”

    Milo Neil

    After their conversation with Lecia, the three scouts had left the bunker through the main entrance while Elizabeth was still in the kitchen.

    They had worked out a plan with Eris and they knew Joseph handled the first part and they were to handle the next part, which was the most dangerous and made them all more likely to get caught.

    The three had gone far into the woods, refusing to go to the city without the truck to handle the cold.

    Milo and Filip agreed that Cyrus would handle the axe, as they were both pretty nervous about the whole situation and didn’t want to have to take a trip to the city because one of them got careless.

    Their task was to cut down a tree, preferably a smaller one that they could actually fit through the doorway and that they could carry downstairs without dropping it or drawing attention to themselves.

    They all wanted to return as soon as they could, the cold rushing them more than they rushed each other.

    They judged the trees on height, saying it shouldn’t be taller than any two of them combined. It was a strict guideline that many trees, quite literally, didn’t fit in.

    After finding a tree, Cyrus took it down and the three had a moment of wondering what to do with the axe before Cyrus decided to kick it through the snow while helping carry the tree.

    Each of them fumbled a few times, Cyrus sometimes forgot to kick the axe and Milo would either trip over it or kick it himself, which Filip said was extremely dangerous and that the two shouldn’t be kicking an axe at all.

    It was after dark before they returned, which gave them hopes that the rest of the group had already been asleep. They checked in to Eris and she told them to wait a little later before they did anything with it because she knew Morgan and Lecia were still up.

    The three scouts and Joseph went back out for the tree after midnight and got it set up as quietly and quickly as they could while Eris decorated as they went.

    They all went to bed as soon as they finished so they would be awake by breakfast.

    12-25-2186

    Elizabeth woke up in the lab the next morning like she usually did to find that someone had snapped the wire to the common room camera, likely the same person who snapped the wire in the kitchen.

    She hissed slightly before getting dressed and leaving the lab to go check on the quality of the camera itself.

    A few moments before she went into the common room, someone grabbed her wrist lightly and started tugging her the other way. She turned to face the person and gave a slight sigh. “Milo, what are you doing?”

    “Taking my favorite sister to breakfast.” He looked back at her with a grin on his face.

    She rolled her eyes as he continued dragging her along to the dining room. “You mean your only sibling?”

    “Yeah!” Elizabeth decided he sounded way too cheerful in the moment and was acting quite suspicious.

    They arrived in the dining room and took their seats at a barren table, surrounded by their group members.

    Elizabeth looked over the rest of the group and noticed they all looked extremely happy in the moment. She met eyes with Morgan for a moment and saw the little girl’s brown eyes light up and a wide smile cross her face as she waved to Elizabeth from across the table. “Good morning!”

    She waved and smiled back to the young girl. “Good morning, Morgan, how are you?”

    The girl was practically jumping in her skin, she seemed so excited. “I got to play in the snow yesterday and it was so much fun!” She looked to Elizabeth, her smile still on her face. “Do you think the snow is still out there today?”

    “Probably, it hasn’t been above freezing for weeks. It might be more ice than snow right now, though.”

    Lecia and Eris started serving the group members, Elizabeth could immediately tell the meal was different because Lecia would never serve them and they never waited for the last person to be awake like they did today.

    She recognized the meal as something she helped Lecia make the night before.

    Nobody mentioned the holiday through breakfast, but it was obvious Morgan wanted to jump out of her seat for some reason.

    After the group cleaned up the table, Morgan rushed to the common room, prompting the rest of the group to follow her.

    Most of the group knew what was set up in the common room and watched Elizabeth to see how she would take it since she was usually the one to set something like this up.

    The scouts were a bit surprised because the decorating had changed through the night. Their stuff was still in place, but now there was more festive colors and decorations surrounding the room.

    Elizabeth had become tearful as she looked over the room, but she kept her words to a minimum.

    Morgan gave a sympathetic smile before leaving her mother’s side to give Elizabeth a hug. “Merry Christmas, Lizzie.”

    “Who… who all did this?” Elizabeth patted Morgan’s back before the young girl pulled away.

    The group looked around each other before Eris gave a slight chuckle. “I think we all had a part in this and we didn’t even know it. Most of the scouts, Joseph, and myself did the tree and the decorations around it, but I don’t know about the rest.”

    Lecia raised her hand slightly. “I did the meals, Morgan and Marshal did the rest of the decorating.”

    Elizabeth had her mouth covered as she turned to Marshal. “You snapped the wires, didn’t you?” He nodded. “Why did you do that?”

    He shrugged. “I didn’t really intend to let you know that I had any part in this so I wanted to hide the fact that I was involved. That didn’t go according to plan.” Milo chuckled at his response.

    It was clear to the group that Elizabeth was trying to make it seem like she was about to cry about the wires and not out of the pure joy she was experiencing inside.

    Marshal went towards the residential hall, Morgan grabbing Elizabeth and pulling her along.

    He went into his room but left the door open for Morgan and Elizabeth. Going through his stuff, he pulled out two wires that looked similar to the ones he had broken the day before and handed them to Elizabeth with a smirk on his face. “Now you can’t be mad at me for the cameras.”

    “I’m going to stay mad at you until I fix it.” Elizabeth seemed determined to not let the good mood get to her.

    Morgan left the room and went back to the common room, shutting the door behind her. Elizabeth was about to go with her until she realized Marshal wasn’t with her but was looking through his closet for something.

    “This is extremely sensitive, so please be careful.” He pulled a dress out of his closet and handed it to her. “You mentioned a while back that you like Edwardian era type gowns. Milo and I found a tailor in West Virginia who was willing to try and mimic the style as long as we didn’t tell the Onyx Organization that he was operating illegally.”

    She looked over the dress, which was extremely close to the style she’d always loved. Her style in clothing was always very picky, as she’d never liked dresses too much because of how much they would expose or because they didn’t have pockets, so she would normally stick to a plain shirt and jeans. She couldn’t say no to this dress, though. It was part of the history she’d admired since she was younger. “Turn around.”

    Marshal took her command and went back to looking through his closet while she got changed. She eventually called for his help tying up the back of the dress, which had to be done for corsets. “You know how nobody got you anything for your birthday this year?” An odd question, but she nodded. “That’s because we were all planning this part. Earlier was a coincidence and we all should have communicated better, but it was a lot of fun. I think I’m starting to see why you enjoy the holidays.”

    A smile crossed her face. “What do you mean ‘this part’? Better yet, why were the scouts all the way in West Virginia?”

    He chuckled as he finished tying the back and she spun towards the mirror. “I’ll answer the second question later and let the group answer the first question for me in a few minutes.” While she looked in the mirror, he put a chain that held an emerald pendant around her neck and hooked the clasp for her. “Two more things, then I’ll leave you alone.”

    While she wouldn’t admit it out loud, she liked the attention she was receiving. It made her feel pretty important. “Two more?”

    He nodded and pulled a box out from the closet, checking the inside before pushing it towards her. “I don’t think you can bend anymore, can you?”

    “No…” It was a little embarrassing to admit, but he didn’t seem to have a problem with it. “We probably should have put my clothes on in a better order.”

    “Agreed.” He put her shoes on for her before standing back up and undoing her braid, letting her hair go. “My part’s done.”

    There was a small gleam in his eyes and she could see why when she looked in the mirror a final time. She adored what she saw. “Thank you.”

    “No problem, now it’s your turn to turn around, you can’t leave the room without me.” He shrugged. “Sorry, I don’t make the rules, I make other people follow them so I don’t have to.”

    She turned her back but the comment made her more excited and anxious at the same time for whatever it was the group had planned.

    The two left the room after Marshal got changed only for Elizabeth to be immediately bombarded by a hug from Morgan once more. Once Morgan pulled away, she looked over Elizabeth’s outfit and then her own before looking to Elizabeth with a contagious smile. “Lizzie, our dresses match!”

    It prompted Elizabeth to look over the both of their outfits before noticing that their colors did match. The top to both of their dresses was a dark green that got lighter as their dress went down. Both of their dresses also went to the floor, another feature that Elizabeth liked about her dress. Their hair was done differently, Elizabeth’s curly brown hair was left to be separated by her shoulders while Morgan’s straight black hair had been put into a ponytail.

    Morgan took one of Elizabeth’s hands and one of Marshal’s hands and started walking towards the dining room. “They’re waiting for you guys.”

    Elizabeth immediately recognized what it was that the group had planned when she went into the dining room and saw the others.

    A common complaint Elizabeth had was that the group more often considered casual clothes to be dressing up and that she felt like living in the bunker was causing them to lose their formality.

    What they had done with that complaint today was completely turn it around. They had each picked out their most formal outfits and put them on for the day.

    It was the first time anyone in the group besides Joseph had seen Eris or Lecia’s wedding dresses, which Elizabeth loved.

    The group stayed in the dining room for a while just enjoying each other’s company until Lecia served some drinks to most group members, with the obvious exception of Morgan and those who chose something else, and Joseph rose from his seat and proposed a toast, something he normally would never do. He cleared his throat before starting his speech, clearly not knowing where to start.

    “It’s been a whirlwind of a few years for our group and I’m truly astonished by the willpower of each and every one of you, though I’m astonished, I admire the courage each of you display and it gives me hope for the future of our group and our people as individuals. After all we’ve been through, I’ve seen the most unexpected people take responsibility for others, actions, and jobs.”

    He looked to Milo and Marshal. “A man who claims to not like children is almost a natural father figure to a girl who lost her own. A man who had the option to stay out of scouting after Jonas’ loss decides to step up and take on an extremely dangerous job when he has so much to lose.”

    He turned to Lecia and Eris. “A woman who was widowed before the age of thirty, you had every chance to up and leave with Morgan, but look who’s still here, serving this group with a golden heart. A woman who was encouraged to give up on life since the day she was born that doctors always said wouldn’t make it to next year, look who’s going on to see 2187.”

    He looked to Elizabeth next. “Perhaps one of the most complicated souls I’ve ever met. A woman who always looked for a way out for the entire group, a woman who doesn’t take no for an answer and one who gets what she wants through multiple efforts. I’ve always been a little surprised that Pierre doesn’t pick you to lead every time he visits.”

    He turned to look at Cyrus and Filip, separated by Morgan. “A man who didn’t have to join any group and he surely didn’t have to take some guy and his sick wife in, he just did. A man who joined a group that was always rumored to be doomed by anyone who spoke of the group, including the group members themselves.”

    He now narrowed his eyes to Morgan. “One little girl who gives the entire group hope and a reason to go on just with her bubbly personality alone.”

    He chuckled, raising his cup to the air. “To the happiness, health, and future of our bunch of misfits.”

    The others raised their cups and responded with a “Hear, hear!” before taking a drink.

    By the end of the night, it was Marshal, Elizabeth, and Morgan who were trying to get the other group members to go to bed. It was easily achieved by the three of them working together.

    Morgan convinced the two adults left awake to take her out to play in the snow after they all got changed into more comfortable clothes.

    Elizabeth was the last the join the two in the common room. They went out of the hatch and the two let Morgan run as wild as she wanted to, their only rule was that she stayed in their view.

    “You never told me why the scouts were in West Virginia, Why was that?” Elizabeth had kept her hair down but replaced her dress with a pair of jeans and a heavy jacket of her own, her shoes now being a pair of winter boots.

    “We were in West Virginia because we hadn’t found a tailor that would do such a practice up until that point. We were a little afraid we’d have to go all over the states to find one, but we were willing to do it if we had to.” His outfit had changed from a business formal type suit to his regular clothing choice of a pair of jeans and a heavy jacket. His shoes differed from Elizabeth’s and Morgan’s because he chose to wear sneakers instead. “I’ve got a better question for you, though.”

    His serious demeanor is what threw Elizabeth off and even worried her for a moment. “What is it?”

    “Why is Morgan the only one allowed to call you Lizzie? You’ve been called Liz, Lizbeth, Liza, Eliza, and Beth, you don’t seem to care about those, but you once snapped at Milo for calling you Lizzie while letting Morgan call you the same name, I don’t get it.” Elizabeth was almost impressed that he listed nearly every nickname she’d been called before.

    “As far as Morgan knows, she’s the only one who gets to call me that. I really don’t care what I’m called and I actually like Lizzie the best, which is why I want to let her have one thing that connects us.” She put her hands in her jacket pockets. “Joseph was right, she’s the one pushing the group forward.” She turned to Marshal with a mischievous grin on her face. “You feel like a real dad, don’t you?”

    Elizabeth saw the vapor in the air after he sighed. “I know I’m not her dad, but being around her so much is helping me grow towards the idea.”

    He expected Elizabeth to make fun of him for what he said, but instead she smiled. “I think Joseph’s pretty proud of what you’ve been doing for her and I know Lecia is overjoyed at having someone to help her.”

    Morgan slid towards the two on ice, covered in snow and looking a little sad. “I fell and I’m ready to go inside.”

    They took her inside, let her take a warm bath, and got her changed before putting her to bed in Lecia’s room.

    They ended up going back to Marshal’s room, Elizabeth going to collect what she had left in his room earlier that day and Marshal going to bed.

    “I hope you enjoyed today, we were hoping to make it as nice as we could for you.”

    Elizabeth found her hands idly messing around with the emerald pendant around her neck. “I did, but I want to know why I was singled out this year.”

    “Because you already do so much for us, we saw how low you’ve been getting this year and we wanted to show you that no matter what, we’re still on your side and we don’t want you to freak out over things you can’t control.” He crossed his arms, a smile on his face. “I know I upset you a lot over these past few years, but that’ll change.”

    A smirk crossed her face. “I’m counting on that.”

    After that, the two gave their goodnights and Elizabeth went off to the lab, making a quick stop to the common room to look at the decorations one last time that night.

    Note: This will be the last part of 2017, but because it’s not a continuation of the main plot, it won’t close the voting of the former part and I will not right now either, that’ll probably be open for the new year.

  • [Agree to the move, making the group less of a target]

    Argh, why must you make the choice so hard? Damn it, I really don't feel confident with voting at all here, because it seems either option is going to cause some death. I mean, I kinda want to break the tie and I think if they move carefully, they might avoid major losses during the move itself, so I prefer this option, but really, I am more than just a bit concerned that this could cause major deaths. So, reluctantly I pick this one. Really reluctantly.

    3.5 Joseph and Eris tried to ease the nerves of the others in the bunker and convince them that Elizabeth and Marshal had just left the b

  • edited December 2017

    (!) Voting is closed! Joseph will agree to the move.

    This choice, I hate to say it but there was no good outcome with either options. The only way this choice could have been avoided is if either Elizabeth or Marshal stayed in the bunker.

    Moving is probably the best idea for those remaining, as staying would have resulted in another intrusion led by Luke. His plan would have been revealed and it would have led to a few deaths and more captives for both sides.

    The next part had been in the works for weeks, but it has nothing to do with the Voyagers, Onyx Organization, or even the Crusaders. That being said, it can be expected after the new year. :)

  • edited January 2018

    3.6

    “June, you shouldn’t be envious of her.” Ava could read what was going through June’s mind right now and it wasn’t pretty. “She’s as snobby as they come and you know that.”

    The girl across from her sighed and looked over to Ava, her eyes that normally gleamed now seemed duller than ever. “I can’t help but be envious. She’s only been here a month and she’s made more friends than I could dream of having. She’s pretty, rich, blonde.”

    June stopped, noticing the rather cold reaction she was getting from Ava. “But she’s also extremely rude. She did nothing but glare the first time she met me and asked if I was the servant of a ship when I mentioned I sail.”

    Ava was an only child, born to parents richer than most owners of any organization. She was adored by her parents, considered a pretty girl growing up with long auburn hair, bright green eyes,and freckles, but she’d always been shorter than most classmates. She was born with dwarfism and often struggled with the reception of her classmates. June remembered a time when Ava would come to school upset because she had to put up with the other kids, but after the death of her parents, she stopped going most days. Instead, she started sailing and even made a name for herself on the sea.

    “I’m just saying, you shouldn’t be jealous of her because eventually she’s going to get a huge hit of karma.” Ava had returned to the academy at June’s request so they could talk about their project, she just didn’t think Stella would become the topic of the day. “What’s your science project about?”

    June snapped back to her original thoughts from earlier, her posture immediately regaining the trained pose, sitting up straight with her hands in her lap. “Right, it’s a partner project and we’ve got the rest of the semester to finish it, but there’s a problem.”

    “What’s that?”

    June sighed, resting her chin in her hand. “I once again don’t have a partner.”

    Most of the people in the academy were children of influential people who turned out to be just as influential, but June was one of the most reserved girls that the academy had to offer. “Is there not anybody else without a partner?”

    She shrugged. “I haven’t asked, but I’m pretty sure there are four people without a partner. Elias, Brent, Stella, and myself.”

    “I see why you’re worried then. Are you thinking Elias is going to go with Stella and she’s going to screw things up for you?”

    She shook her head. “That’s the least of my concerns. I’m more worried Elias is going to pair with Brent and I’ll be stuck with Stella.”

    Ava noticed June’s eyes light up again, causing her to give off a soft smile. “I can try to help you with your problem.”

    ???

    Half past ten in the morning, a plane landed in Vatican City, a small country surrounded by Rome.

    Of the people who got off, only one of them was there temporarily.

    A muscular man with black hair and green eyes, standing over six feet tall exited the plane with a bandana covering his face to protect his face from any dust or debris from the landing. That man was a traveler named Bruco Vane.

    Bruco had traveled to Vatican City for the same reason he had traveled to nearly every other country before the age of twenty, and that reason was to see how their resistance movements and their organizations interacted with each other.

    Many people left their homes in whatever country they left to go to Vatican City or France, as they’d heard the two countries were easier on their citizens than other countries were.

    France had been taken over, but Vatican City was ruled by equals. Edefelic Magabaz was in charge of the Ammolite Organization, the organization that should have been running Vatican City all alone,while his half-sister, Bastet-Mumu Magabaz, was in charge of the Vatican City’s resistance movement, the Marauders.

    Edefelic was a man who cherished his family, making his half-sister’s political position more difficult for him to fight against.

    Bruco had gone to Vatican City when Edefelic was supposed to make an announcement on the progress of his organization and the “fight” against the resistance movement, in which multiple leaders of other organizations and other resistance movements would be in attendance.

    It was a risky move for most of the leaders of the movements and the organizations to be in one place, but there was a system. The organization leaders would arrive before anyone else and be seated separately from others. Then the citizens and visitors of the country would show up, resistance members and leaders would mix in with the civilians, avoiding detection through that manner.

    Known resistance members wouldn’t show up, but if they did it was to mock their organization leader since there was nothing that could be done about them in the territory of a different organization or the territory of a different resistance movement.

    There had been rumors of organizations making a plan to crack down on who visited their area now that there had been speculation of Edefelic going easy on Vatican City’s movement purely because Bastet-Mumu was his family. Many citizens expected this to be the true nature of the announcement.

    Bruco had been sent into the section for the citizens, an area where the view wasn’t really the best. He had been told to stand towards the back because of his height, which didn’t really bother him. He’d rather more people get the chance to see, knowing that they weren’t all travelers like he was.

    He had to admit, any restrictions on traveling would ruin what he does and would force him to pick one place and stay there, which he knew would never keep him happy.

    It was rumored that the new traveling restrictions would keep civilians from being able to travel to Vatican City, France, and other countries that were taken over or in danger of being taken over. Their borders with other countries would be heavily guarded and anyone going in or out of these territories would be subjected to a lengthy questioning on their reasoning and would be denied access either way.

    While those were only rumors, it was a trouble for travelers like Bruco and leaders like Edefelic and Bastet-Mumu, despite being political opponents.

    Bruco had been lucky enough to speak with the leaders and well-respected members of some resistance movements. They had all told him the same story of a former way of life. Some members were more forceful and charismatic, the ones that were politicians before they joined the resistance. Then there were members of the resistance who had been born into the movement, some defending their resistance with their life and some admitting that they would have rather been born a normal child.

    The popular opinion of the resistance members was that their movement was failing because they didn’t want to get violent, they just wanted to be heard. A way of life that Bruco could respect.

    Bruco had been told by a few leaders that he was always welcomed back, whether it was for a drink or for a permanent home, he’d be welcomed.

    ???

    The Jade Organization was in charge of Australia, their resistance movement was known as the ‘Knuckle-draggers’. It was a name other resistance members had tried to talk the leader out of, but he had chosen because it sounded cool to him.

    After nearly one hundred years, the Jade Organization had no problem running their territory and were often commended for their action with their resistance group, which was very limited because the Jade Organization had put them in a corner to where their only way out was to surrender.

    Among the people who worked for the Jade Organization, there was a woman who had come from Onyx Organization territory to further her education.

    She worked hard for what she wanted and what she wanted most was a job away from home.

    Her name was Chelsea Hampton.

    Chelsea was often the center of focus, much to her dismay, because of her blonde hair and her blue eyes, which many people liked about her.

    Though there was more to Chelsea than just her blonde hair and blue eyes

    Chelsea was a brilliant mind, a rather innocent mind, hidden behind a pretty face and a quiet voice.

    That’s why she didn’t care that she never worked with actual people, rather than computers. She would rather work efficiently on her own than work when she knew nobody was going to listen to her.

    She enjoyed her job, as it allowed her to keep an eye on the other organizations and her father without being too personally involved in their affairs, as she knew what happened to those who were too personally involved.

    The one thing Chelsea disliked about her job was a man she shared her space with, like many organizations required. It wasn’t because she had to share a space with him, it was because he was a rather flirty man who always seemed ready to test Chelsea.

    She’d been on her own for around five years now, having left Onyx Organization territory after the death of someone close to her.

    Some might have even called him her first love.

    Things had been growing suspicious in her eyes for awhile now, but an email she received in August had put her on high alert.

    It was a picture of a man. A man who had supposedly been dead for five years now.

    Her heart sank and her body went cold in a matter of seconds as she looked over the picture, time and time again she tried to convince herself that it wasn’t true and he was dead, but the picture was just too convincing.

    A man with a grey beanie and light stubble stood against a building in a heavy trench coat. Chelsea could see that his shirt was almost the same shade of grey as his beanie, but she couldn’t tell the rest of his outfit.

    She traced the sender of the email, which was someone from the Onyx Organization. A million questions flooded her mind. Why was he wearing a trench coat in August? Who sent her the email? Why would they send her the email? Was it a mistake? Was the whole thing faked? She didn’t know, but her mind wasn’t functioning like normal in the current moment.

    Chelsea left the office in a hurry, turning off the monitor and trying to catch her breath as she went. She stopped outside the front door and put her hands on her knees, feeling almost as if she was dreaming or if she was going to be sick.

    It took her twenty minutes outside and a few stares from her coworkers before she went back into the office and turned the monitor back on before looking at the picture again, tracing the sender further.

    It led her to the name Sara Jacobson. That was a name she had seen before when she had looked through the recent news of the Onyx Organization, something she did frequently.

    She remembered an article back in April that said that Sara Jacobson and the man she had married were actually Voyagers. It was followed by another article about a week later about some more Voyagers that had been caught.

    Sara’s employee record showed that she had been terminated, but her former partner was Luke Lowell, just as Chelsea had suspected.

    Chelsea didn’t know the details of the situation, but she immediately left the office again after signing off of her station. She didn’t want to start with her boss, she wanted to go straight to the top.

    She found herself in the office of Georgie Kenny, the man who ran the Jade Organization.

    Georgie wasn’t a nice man, in fact her father had always told her to stay professional with him because he was a wrathful man who would use people to feed his lust for power and women.

    “Mr. Kenny, I would like to be transferred to the Onyx Organization. Their lead cyber security officer is retiring this year and I think I would be a suitable replacement.” He was listening, but he wasn’t going to immediately respond until she gave at least three reasons. “My father is getting older and I want to be there for his upcoming birthday and be able to stay home with him in his old age.” That part wasn’t the entire truth; her father wasn’t too old, but Georgie wasn’t going to go out of his way to find out how old Isaac was. “And finally, they seem to be having a problem with their resistance group relying on cyber attacks, which is something I can put a stop to.”

    Georgie nodded before cupping his hands in front of his face. “Is that all you want?”

    She shook her head. “No sir, I would like for my arrival to be a secret from my father, as it would ruin the entire surprise I’m going for. That, and I’m afraid if the Voyagers were to find out that someone new and more talented in the cyber area was coming, that I would be attacked by them.”

    He sighed. “A fair point, but are you entirely sure you would like to do this?”

    “Yes sir.”

    Georgie started the paperwork to transfer Chelsea a few days later and they got her on a plane in September.

    The second her plane landed, she remembered that she wouldn’t be given the same treatment as other transferring employees by her own request. She knew she would also need that space to make a decision of her own.

    She knew at least two people who knew about Luke, but she didn’t know if either of them would be completely honest with her.

    Her own father had agreed to send her away five years earlier, kept very little contact, and never told her about Luke for those five years. The other person, the one who sent the email, was caught to be a Voyager a few months back, but there was no saying she would be honest about it. She had no way of finding either of them in the current moment, as her father often worked around the city and tried to stay out of his office as much as possible.

    Luke himself was obviously another person who knew of his fate, but he was also someone she didn’t want to see immediately until she had been caught up on why he was hidden from her for five years and even lied about when she asked.

    She knew that her father might be around his office, but she would be more likely to find the sender of the email, a woman that records now called Elizabeth, since the Voyagers were either contained to the fourth floor or somewhere close to headquarters for the safety of the citizens.

    She sighed, taking her bags from the plane and loading them up in the trunk of a car that Georgie had arranged as a rental. She had to make the choice before she did anything, otherwise she might lose any leads she had.

    [Confront Isaac]
    [Confront Elizabeth]

    Note: Yeaaaaaah, nothing to do with Onyx or the Voyagers, turns out my call in December was wrong. Sorry about that last call, but the final POV is something I wanted to get in before the main story continued, for reason that will become more evident in the fourth chapter. Aaaaanyway, Happy New Year!

  • edited January 2018

    Oh, wow, talk about surprise... I wasn't expecting to see Chelsea here at all. But what a great surprise it was though! I love how you portrayed her here too, she's just like I imagined and I look forward to seeing more of her. I can't wait to see how the reencounter between her and Luke will be, I guess awkward would be putting it mildly considering what we just read in this part.

    Now, as in regards to the choice, I think Chelsea would be more inclined to go with [Confront Elizabeth]. Here, she can kill two birds with one stone. She can confront her about Luke and the reason as to why she sent her that email. While she can't be sure she'll get truthful answers by going to the Voyager, she knows her father better than anyone else, and considering what we know about Isaac ourselves so far, I doubt someone like him would tell the truth in this situation.

  • [Confront Elizabeth]

    3.6 “June, you shouldn’t be envious of her.” Ava could read what was going through June’s mind right now and it wasn’t pretty. “She’s as

  • I can't wait to see how the reencounter between her and Luke will be, I guess awkward would be putting it mildly considering what we just read in this part.

    There’s tons of dependent factors in how their meeting will go, like how far off they meet, what Chelsea’s told, and the major one of if Luke is still upset over his trust being betrayed by Elizabeth. There’s some more minor ones, but I don’t want to spill all of them too far ahead of time.

    While she can't be sure she'll get truthful answers by going to the Voyager, she knows her father better than anyone else

    That’s very true. Chelsea and Elizabeth don’t know each other personally and as far as Chelsea knows, Elizabeth is still on the opposition. The two are both smart, but I think Chelsea would have the upper hand and be able to decipher any lies she’s told.

    considering what we know about Isaac ourselves so far, I doubt someone like him would tell the truth in this situation.

    Isaac has yet to find out that about Chelsea’s arrival, so he might be more inclined to tell some truth when confronted by her immediately, but there’s no assuring that Chelsea will be able to know when the truth starts to ease into lies.

    Oh, wow, talk about surprise... I wasn't expecting to see Chelsea here at all. But what a great surprise it was though! I love how you portr

  • [Confront Elizabeth]

    3.6 “June, you shouldn’t be envious of her.” Ava could read what was going through June’s mind right now and it wasn’t pretty. “She’s as

  • [Confront Elizabeth]
    I liked that mysterious school for the elites and the mysterious elite students enrolled there. I wonder what interesting situations are going to be happening there. ;)

    3.6 “June, you shouldn’t be envious of her.” Ava could read what was going through June’s mind right now and it wasn’t pretty. “She’s as

  • I wonder what interesting situations are going to be happening there.

    It's a gamble, but their appearances in this act will be limited since there are now five active storylines going on with two, technically three, on hold. How the parts are going to work out from now on is messy and totally not pretty, but it's a way to get stuff done :/

    But the storyline in question is set for a build up to the second act and will likely be one of the leading storylines in the act, which is why parts will be shaky (but there will still be some!) up until the last few chapters of act one.

    [Confront Elizabeth] I liked that mysterious school for the elites and the mysterious elite students enrolled there. I wonder what interesting situations are going to be happening there.

  • (!) Voting is closed! Chelsea will confront Elizabeth.

    This choice is another influence on the next chapter and I can't really say how it's going to work out just yet, but the term "friends in unlikely places" is one of the ways it could go.

    The next part is already in the works and will be out within the hour :)

  • 3.7

    He nodded for a minute with a heavy feeling gathering in his chest as he told himself that his people wouldn’t agree with his decision. “Okay, we’ll leave.” Joseph was sickened by the words that came out of his own mouth, but it was what the group needed to do. “I’ll tell the group, you two get the details worked out.”

    It was clear to him that Marie was getting a reading on him, and it wasn’t a good one. “We’ll get it worked out, but just know that you’re making the right choice.”

    He sighed before turning and leaving the room. ’I hope she’s right.’

    Stepping into the common room, he immediately gathered the attention of the people in there. It pained him to see them the way they were. Hopeless and terrified by recent events, those were the top feelings shared among the group. Lecia seemed the most composed, but it was clear that she was upset by the recent events. “What’s the plan?”

    And like that, anyone who might have been tuned out or focusing on something else gave Joseph their full attention. “We’re leaving. Pierre and Marie are working on a plan right now, the rest of us will get one bag of our own stuff together. Don’t make it too heavy to weigh you down.”

    It was just the response he had expected, just from different people. “What about all the people we’ve lost?” Eris spoke up after seeing nobody had seemed happy about the move.

    Joseph himself wanted to have hope for all of them, lost and in his presence, but he knew better than to instill false hope. “They’re not coming back. In fact, most of them are probably dead.”

    “How could you say that?” Filip responded with shock in his voice. “We’ve lost a lot of people up until this point, I have no doubt that some of them are dead, but there’s no way that a majority or all of them are dead.”

    Joseph was losing the crowd before he even had them. “Out of the three most recent losses, I can only expect one of them to be alive. Morgan was lost in the woods, she never made it to Onyx Organization headquarters. Elizabeth was already in critical condition and I’d consider it a miracle if they didn’t take advantage of that. The records also show that Marshal made some bad choices of his own, even going as far as giving up when faced with the intruders.”

    Joseph looked to Eris to see her face burning red and her eyes glossing over quickly. “I don’t care if you think it’s more ‘realistic’ that they’d be dead, I don’t care if you think that because Pierre is here then you need to put on some facade, but drop the act, I’m not going to let you sit here and lie to these people about their loved ones. Elizabeth was getting better, Alyssa can tell you that, and Marshal didn’t just give up, we saw the same footage.” She sighed, tears falling as she did so. “I don’t know what you want us to say, I really don’t. Nobody’s going to be happy with this move because we have no answers about our people.”

    “I think he’s right…” A tearful Lecia spoke up from Eris’ side. “The best way to keep from losing our people is to keep moving.”

    “The best way to keep from losing our people and struggling with the movement is to disband the group and go back to the city.” Cyrus seemed furious with the decision, but he knew to keep his peace. “Is that what you want to do, Lecia? Is that what’s best for you? For Eris? For Morgan?”

    Milo was quick to take Cyrus’ side. “Should we remind you that your wife is terminally ill? If we move, there’s a strong chance that we’ll lose someone else, she and Kyle are the most likely as of this moment. They won’t let her live if they get her, you know they’ll kill her as soon as they figure out who she is and nobody can stop that.” He sounded frustrated and Joseph could tell that he was getting angry.

    Joseph looked to Kyle and Ethan, the two had sat next to each other. “What are your takes on it?”

    Ethan seemed ready to jump on the question. “Milo has a point. They’ll kill any of us because of our involvement with the group.” He looked over to Alyssa. “I can only expect her and Kyle to be publicly executed for treason.”

    “You’ll probably be publicly executed too, since you were in charge of the nursing facility.” Filip referred to Joseph. “Anyone else who was involved with the Onyx Organization will probably be publicly executed as well.”

    Cyrus scanned the room. “Eris, Lecia, Filip, Alyssa, Kyle, and yourself.” He turned to Joseph, anger still lighting up his eyes. “That’s six lives that you’re willing to risk because Pierre told you to.”

    Kyle sighed from his seat, something obviously on his mind. “As a former fourth floor administrator, I can say that once all of the Voyagers surrender or are caught, anyone who was affiliated with them will be executed, publicly or not, it’s a death sentence for everyone.”

    “Now that they know where the base is, I wouldn’t be surprised if they come back tonight. Our only hope is the fact that their headquarters are hours from the bunker, but that’s not going to protect us forever.” Alyssa, the only person who hadn’t spoken yet, finally spoken up. It seemed like she was taking Joseph’s side for a moment until he realized she was staying neutral, like Kyle was. “There are alternatives to leaving, but the problem with those alternatives is that the person who made them was so paranoid and secretive that nobody knows how to use them and nobody knows how to read her cryptographic writing to figure it out.”

    Lecia shook her head, growing more upset as the conversation went on. “How many of you are really unhappy with this idea and not just taking the opportunity to gang up on Joseph?” She looked around. “I want to see a show of hands. Who here is beyond certain that they’re against the move?”

    Eris raised her hand without hesitation, as did Cyrus and Filip. Milo and Ethan raised their hands simultaneously. Kyle was the only one who seemed to hesitate.

    Lecia and Alyssa were the only two with their hands down. “Alyssa, what is your stance on the move?” Lecia turned to her as the others put their hands down and turned their attention to Alyssa.

    “I have no stance on it.” She folded her hands in her lap, ready for whatever Lecia would have to throw back. “I think moving is best for the group’s chances, but it ruins any chance we have at getting Elizabeth or Marshal back.” She looked to Eris. “Milo was right about Eris and Kyle being the most in danger because they’re slower than the others, as I’ve noticed. Eris is too sick to move again and Kyle is older than the organization typically allows, so they’re both prime candidates for being caught and they’ll both surely be executed without hesitation.” She looked down, some hair that was loose from her ponytail had fallen in front of her face. “I don’t want to lose anybody else.”

    “What were the chances of getting either of them back in the first place?” Lecia scoffed. “I think you guys are forgetting that Elizabeth was public enemy number one, they’ll kill her if they haven’t already.”

    Kyle shook his head and responded before anyone else got the chance. “They had plans for her and death wasn’t in those plans. When Milo was around, they were using him to lure her so they could chip her and get her to give up all the information she has on the Voyagers. After they got the group, they planned to kill everyone else and have her work in the cyber security division.”

    Alyssa nodded, confirming the statement.

    Eris had stopped crying by now and had seemed to grow more angry herself. “She would never do that.”

    “She wouldn’t have a choice with the chip.” Ethan reminded her.

    “It wouldn’t matter either way.” Cyrus interrupted. “She found out what was inside the chips and treated herself and the scouts to small doses of it that would increase daily so we could build up an immunity. Milo built up an immunity after two years, so I think the chip would have no effect on her after four years.”

    In a matter of seconds, someone spoke up from behind Joseph. “How many of you have an immunity?”

    He turned to see Pierre with Marie trailing a few feet behind him. “Three.”

    A smile crossed Pierre’s face for a moment, before he shook it off. “The three of you will scout ahead then.” He took a map from Marie and handed it to Cyrus. “Leave immediately.”

    It was clear he expected Cyrus to go ahead and the others to go with him, but none of the three scouts moved. “No, but thanks for the opportunity.”

    Cyrus reached around Pierre and handed the map back to Marie.

    Joseph could tell Pierre wanted to snap right there, but he wasn’t going to because Marie was there. It was clear Cyrus knew that as well. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the location we’re in and scouting ahead is a waste of time, therefore I won’t be scouting ahead for you.”

    The others looked on in shock. Cyrus would have never disobeyed an order from Pierre or Joseph, even having a difficult time going against Elizabeth’s word. “What gives you the authority to make this decision?”

    “The same hierarchy I’ve learned to hate. Joseph is the leader of this group, Elizabeth is considered the second hand because she’s in charge of security, then it goes to the leader of the scouts, that’s me.” Cyrus crossed his arms. “After Elizabeth’s disappearance, I’m put in the second hand position and I’m not sending my scouts out on a suicide mission.”

    Pierre looked shocked for a quick minute before regaining his usual deadpan look. “That will be fine.” He looked back to the group. “All of you, go pack your belongings. There will be no more discussion on leaving.” After nobody moved, Pierre snapped at them. “Get moving!”

    The group separated, each of them going to their own rooms to start packing. Joseph didn’t get the chance to talk to Eris afterwards since Pierre had ordered him to go into the lab and collect whatever Elizabeth left and gather a bag of both her and Marshal’s belongings. Filip stopped by the lab to help Joseph after he got his own stuff ready.

    He could tell that Filip was still upset with him and avoided conversation for that reason. Filip had taken the bag from the lab up to the truck to let Joseph get to Marshal’s room faster.

    Going into Marshal’s room, he found that Milo, Kyle, and Alyssa were each in there, all of them working on different bags. None of them would speak to him either, which didn’t surprise him.

    He caught a glare from Alyssa, but it wasn’t the same hateful one the other group members were giving him, it was a sympathetic one. He noticed she was working on a bag of medical supplies. She rose after collecting what she need from the room, putting her hand on Milo’s shoulder for a moment. “I’m going to the lab to get what’s left in there.”

    Milo looked to Joseph after Alyssa had left. “Kyle and I can handle Elizabeth and Marshal’s stuff, please just go.”

    Kyle hadn’t said a word to him, but the look on his face spoke unbelievable sadness.

    Joseph left at Milo’s request and went to his own room to start packing his stuff, knowing that Eris wouldn’t do it. The marriage between the two had been shattering beneath them for years now. It made Joseph feel like he had to tread on ice like any fight they had could be the final straw.

    She seemed angry, but sad at the same time. “I don’t know how we’re going to keep this up…”

    Her voice was so quiet that he would have missed it if he wasn’t listening for it. “What do you mean?”

    They were working on their separate bags on opposite sides of the room. “I mean I don’t know who you are anymore. Even after everything the group had to say, you tossed their opinions and facts to the curb when Pierre showed up. You’re even willing to risk the entire group at his command. Why is that?”

    She looked to him with pleading eyes, like she was begging him to give her a reason to stay with him. “Because I think it’s right for the group.”

    “You and one other person. Pierre himself didn’t give a reason for the move and that’s why I think he’s giving up on the group, you’re letting him give up and giving up on us yourself.” He couldn’t quite tell if he meant ‘us’ as in the group or their marriage, both of which things he hadn’t given up on.

    “What do you want me to say, Eris?”

    Her blue eyes started glossing over once more as she zipped up her bag. “I want you to tell Pierre we’re not leaving and talk him into letting us stay, at least until we get Elizabeth and Marshal back.”

    She was trying not to raise her voice, that was evident. “I can’t do that. Those two aren’t coming back and neither is anyone else, you and the others need to understand and accept that. All we have are the people that are still with us.”

    She pulled the bag off the bed and walked to the door, stopping there. “No matter how hard I try, I can’t convince myself that this move is for the good.” She sighed. “I’ll see you upstairs.”

    With that, she left the room and shut the door behind her.

    She left the bunker and handed her bag to Pierre, who eyed her with suspicion. “Where is Joseph?”

    She shrugged, looking over the group. Lecia, Cyrus, Filip, Milo, Alyssa, Kyle, Ethan, Pierre, Marie, and herself were all there. Everyone but Joseph. “Still getting ready.”

    Pierre put her bag with the others before attempting to go back into the bunker, only to be stopped when Joseph left. “Now’s not the time to waste time, start moving. Cyrus, take the truck with Pierre. Filip, you stay up front with Marie. Milo, stay towards the back with me.”

    Most of the group was thrown off by Joseph’s shift in attitude, but they followed his orders either way.

    It was only after Cyrus had turned on the headlights and starting driving away that Eris realized it was incredibly foggy outside and not just her eyesight.

    “Are you sure it’s safe to go right now?” Alyssa was the first to question the decision after they started walking. It was already dark by the time they’d finished their talk inside and packing their things, which was another problem for the entire group.

    “Don’t question me on this decision again, I’m not answering anymore questions about it. You all need to accept that it’s happening and move along.” Joseph ordered from the back, obviously tired of hearing the same question.

    Eris, Joseph, Milo, and Kyle had stayed towards the back, the fog being so heavy that they could hardly see each other despite being feet away. “It was just a question, Joseph, what’s going on with you?”

    “Just as I said, I’m done with questions. From now on, things are going to be different to avoid another intrusion. It starts with less questions from all of you and less orders from Elizabeth or Cyrus, is that clear?”

    “About as clear as this fog.” Lecia commented. “Eris, what’s going on with him?”

    Eris sighed, continuing her walk. “Don’t ask me.”

    The silence started at that moment and only ended when Milo started pushing Eris and Kyle along around ten minutes later. “Hurry up.” His voice was a panicked whisper. “We’re being followed.”

    “You need to tell Joseph.” Kyle commented, both he and Eris trying to keep up with Milo.

    “I’m not entirely sure he’s still with us and I don’t want to risk slowing you guys down in the case that he’s not.”

    “How can you not be sure?” Kyle sounded a little disappointed with the confession.

    It was probably easiest for Milo to not be sure, as his sight had always been better than his hearing. “Nobody’s speaking and I can’t see a thing, it’s difficult to keep track of them if they’re trying to stay as quiet as possible in this fog.”

    Before she got the chance to respond, she was pulled back by somebody in the fog. They covered her mouth the second she was pulled close enough, the shock being the main reason she hadn’t said anything beforehand.

    She didn’t know who was near her or where they were, but she knew they didn’t see her get pulled away because of the fog and they didn’t know she was pulled back because she hadn’t spoken for a while now.

    As her attacked continued to pull her back, she knew she had a brief moment to act.

    [Reach out and attempt to grab someone]
    [Attempt to fight back]

  • [Reach out and attempt to grab someone]
    Eris is very ill, she can't fight back against someone who may be physically stronger than her, even if she wasn't sick. She needs to grab Milo or someone in front of her to help her.

    3.7 He nodded for a minute with a heavy feeling gathering in his chest as he told himself that his people wouldn’t agree with his decisio

  • [Reach out and attempt to grab someone]

    3.7 He nodded for a minute with a heavy feeling gathering in his chest as he told himself that his people wouldn’t agree with his decisio

  • [Reach out and attempt to grab someone]

    3.7 He nodded for a minute with a heavy feeling gathering in his chest as he told himself that his people wouldn’t agree with his decisio

  • So this is kind of an odd feeling for me, I don’t really post much about my personal life besides some stories of what goes on in the Mega thread, but I wanted to update you guys on something going on.

    I left for Louisiana a little over two weeks ago and I’ve had a very difficult time keeping up with this story and writing responses and voting for other stories because I’ve been quite busy with my family here. I can’t really do anything except apologize for my absences and neglect, but I would like to share the reasoning.

    My grandfather has been in the hospital for over a month and I couldn’t leave immediately because I was in school, so I left as soon as I could. I’ve spent a lot of time with him and I’ve cherished every moment of it. He passed away this morning and I’ll be extending my stay here by another week to continue helping.

    I felt you guys should know, as I didn’t want you guys to think I abandoned the forums or something.

  • edited January 2018

    My deepest condolences to you, losing someone is something difficult, to say the least. I think I speak for everyone when I say that we all understand and that there's absolutely no need to apologize, for anything. While what happened is horrible, its at least comforting that you've spent some time with him recently and hopefully had some good memories to stay with you. Take all the time you need, we will understand perfectly. I wish everything that's good to you and your family during these times.

    So this is kind of an odd feeling for me, I don’t really post much about my personal life besides some stories of what goes on in the Mega t

  • 3.8

    “Where the hell’s my money, Rikard?” It was the middle of the night when a man’s voice echoed through the apartment building.

    It was after the name Rikard was spoken that somebody had called the police and someone else in the building had called the only Rikard they knew.

    Ethan took off sprinting towards the apartments in the dead of night, trying to make it before the police made it.

    He ran up the apartment stairs and started budging on a door, trying and trying again until the door busted open.

    He frantically searched through the apartment, a place that clearly wasn’t a home to any person but instead an illegal business. Something his brother had gotten caught up in.

    Going into a room that was made to be a bedroom, he found his older brother on the floor and another man towering over him, knife in hand. “Back up!” The man jumped to face Ethan and that’s when Ethan could clearly see that his older brother was only on the floor because he had already been stabbed. “You know the police are already on their way. You should leave before they get here, otherwise you’re going to have more than me to deal with.”

    The man was a drug dealer that nobody really knew about. The only thing people knew about dealers was that they wouldn’t be accepted in the organization’s eyes or the resistance’s eyes for a reason that nobody knew.

    It was clear he wasn’t going to give up easily, though.

    He faced Ethan with a look of surprise that turned to pure anger. “You’ve been working to pay off his debt that nearly multiplied every single time that he saw me.” He made a quick slash to the air that Ethan dodged with ease. “I may have let him slide for the past few months, but how much is enough? One hundred? A thousand? Try two thousand and you’ll be close to how much he owes me.”

    “You’ve let it slide for seven months and you know he’s trying to pay you off, what makes tonight any different?”

    The question only set his anger into stone. He made another slash to the air that cut Ethan’s nose. “It’s never been different, I’ve always needed money because I have suppliers that I need to pay. I can’t pay them if I’m not getting paid by my customers. It’s business.”

    As much as Ethan wanted to focus on himself, he knew another slash was inevitable and he couldn’t risk it. The dealer brandished the knife, taking his eyes off Ethan for a mere second. Now was his chance.

    Ethan charged the dealer, knocking the knife out of his hand as the sound of stomping feet drew closer to the scene.

    He struggled to keep the dealer pinned until they were forced apart by the Onyx Organization officers.

    That night was the longest night of Ethan’s life.

    He stayed in an interrogation room until one of the higher-ups arrived to question him. He told his story over and over until his mind went numb.

    It was only after the day had ended that he was told his brother had died in the apartment.

    After that, his mind stayed numb, just as the rest of him.

    Present Day

    As Eris was dragged back, she made a final attempt to grab somebody, swinging her arms out and latching on to whatever she had grabbed. Whoever grabbed her knew whenever she latched on and started pulling harder, expecting her to let go.

    “Eris, stop!” She had grabbed Milo and only gotten a response after digging her nails into his arm. After a quick moment of thinking, Milo realized what was going on and returned the pull, quickly saying something to Kyle before focusing on Eris. “Go get somebody, now.”

    A second pair of hands wrapped around Eris, but she knew it wasn’t anyone from her group when they started pulling the opposite of Milo.

    Milo had tightened his grasp on her and didn’t show any intention of letting go, someone coming to his aid by pulling on Eris as well. “Where did Joseph go?” The second person hissed, revealing themselves to be Filip.

    In the moment, she wanted them all to let go. She felt like a rag doll, capable of breaking any moment.

    The next few seconds were a complete blur to her.

    Somebody flashed by her, causing the second attacker to let go of Eris and a gunshot to go off.

    The gunshot was directly behind Eris and felt deafening to her ears. Milo and Filip to let go of her in an attempt to regain their own hearing.

    By the time they realized what had happened, it was already too late. The only person left hanging onto her jerked her away from the scene and shoved her into a tree, putting handcuffs around her while they could.

    She wanted to fight back, but she had lost all her energy trying to help Milo and Filip. Her eyes started to blur before the attacker pulled her along by the handcuffs.

    They stopped at a vehicle where she was seated next to her unconscious husband, the sight alone being enough to pull her out of her haze.

    She looked out the window to see a man in a grey beanie, walking towards the driver’s seat.

    He stopped before getting in the vehicle, turning his attention to the direction they came.

    Two people had followed them, both for different reasons.

    Filip and Ethan stood at the edge of the tree line, each of them looking upset by the circumstances.

    In Filip’s arms was the body of a woman. She was clearly dead, having suffered wounds from whoever took her down in the fight.

    The three shared words before Filip seemed to grow more angry with the conversation, dropping the body after so long and heading back into the woods.

    Ethan took a look at the body before picking it up at the man’s command, a look of sorrow momentarily in his eyes.

    He brought the body to the man and got in the vehicle, taking a seat next to Eris. “What are you doing?”

    They had a quick minute to speak while the man handled the body. “I’m not letting you go through this alone. They’re going to kill Joseph when they figure out who he is and if Elizabeth and Marshal aren’t around then you’re going to need somebody around.”

    “You gave up?” Tears built up in Eris’ eyes as she began questioning him.

    “Somebody had to and my situation isn’t as severe as the others.”

    “You willingly turned against the Onyx Organization, do you really think they’re going to give you a slap on the wrist?”

    Before Ethan could respond, the man climbed into the driver's seat. “Cut the chitchat. You’ll be expected to answer questions when we get back to headquarters.”

    Eris looked to Joseph for a moment, a look of concern building in her eyes. “What did you do to him?”

    “What I had to.” The man grimaced. “Don’t expect to keep your lives much longer; after they learn what you people did to Mallory, they’ll be calling for your deaths.”

    “We didn’t do anything to her.” Ethan spoke up, his tone defensive. He motioned to Joseph before speaking again. “He was unconscious and missing, she’s too brittle, and I wasn’t anywhere near your partner at the time.”

    “Make up some more excuses, go ahead, it’s just a waste of your time.” The man responded coldly. “Nobody’s gullible enough to fall for the same act twice.”

    Eris knew in an instant that he was talking about Elizabeth and Marshal. ‘What act would they pull?

    They arrived to headquarters after daybreak, Joseph having woken up an hour earlier.

    The three of them were escorted by an officer through headquarters. Eris saw a familiar, unmistakable pair of eyes in the lobby before they were taken into the elevator.

    They got off on the fourth floor and were dropped off in a conference room. A man with long blond hair waited for them, motioning for them to take a seat on the side opposite of him.

    He looked at Joseph with pure hatred in his eyes before getting ready to address the group as a whole. “Give your names.” His tone of voice told them that he had already grown impatient with them.

    His blue eyes stared daggers at Joseph, waiting for him to give his name. “Joseph Duke.”

    His eyes moved to Eris. “Eris Duke.”

    As he looked to Ethan, his face seemed to soften. “Ethan Rikard.”

    After hearing Ethan’s name, the man scoffed and crossed his arms, leaning on the table. “Most of you already know me, Isaac Hampton. I’m going to be honest, I didn’t think there was anybody that your group had to offer that would be denser than Elizabeth proved herself to be, but you three have surprised me.” He looked between Eris and Ethan. “Especially you two. Mr. Rikard, you know you’re a wanted man and you still surrendered when you weren’t even a target. What is going on inside your head?”

    Joseph cut in, obviously trying to take some heat off of Ethan. “What did she do?”

    Isaac eyed him suspiciously before a disturbed smile crossed his face. “She gave up her freedom and became an informant in trade for a building.” He returned his view to Ethan as Joseph’s skin went pale. “Now, back to you. I want you to truly understand that because of your actions, your life is on the line.” He leaned back in his chair. “I get it, Ethan, I’m human too. It was a mistake that was caused by excess stress. I can forgive mistakes,” he shot a glare towards Joseph. “but I cannot forgive treachery.”

    Eris could tell he expected Ethan to admit that joining the Voyagers was a mistake, but he kept his silence for a moment. “There was no mistake, I joined the Voyagers because I believed in their cause instead of yours.”

    Isaac shook his head before sighing. “I gave you a chance.” He looked to Eris, seemingly ignoring Joseph’s presence. “You were supposed to die years ago. Why are you still here? Better question, why should I keep you here?”

    Eris opened her mouth to speak before someone in the hall yelled out something.

    The door shot open and the same person she saw in the lobby ran in, slamming the door behind them. Isaac rose from his seat, a furious look brewing on his face. “Mrs. Kennedy, what is the meaning of this?!”

    Elizabeth put her back to the door, knowing she would get in trouble for being there. “I need a word with you.”

    Eris turned to face her, immediately noticing the exhaustion painting her face. “Elizabeth-“

    Isaac snapped towards Eris. “You will not speak to her!” He turned back to Elizabeth, walking around the table to get face to face with her. “Explain yourself immediately!”

    “You can’t execute those three.”

    Isaac composed himself for a moment before moving Elizabeth out of the door’s way. He opened the door and poked his head out, directing a comment towards a worker. “Don’t worry about her, I’ve got her handled.” He shut the door and went back to his side of the table before instructing her to sit next to Ethan. “Now, what is your reasoning for saying this?”

    “It doesn’t give the rest of the group a reason to come out of hiding. In fact, it’ll make your goal even more unachievable.” She sounded unsure of her answers, a big change from her usual confident tone. “Joseph was their leader and I can promise you that if he shows up dead, you’re never going to see the Voyagers for the rest of your lifetime-“

    “And what makes you so sure of that?” Isaac cut her off, his tone towards her still aggressive and annoyed.

    “They’ll be plotting your death.” She looked to Ethan. “If he dies, people will be discouraged from joining the resistance but your citizens will have no trust in you. They’ll see you as a cold, unforgiving, and untrustworthy man.” She took a final glance at Eris. “She’s already dying. The best course of action against all three would be to let her suffer.”

    Isaac nodded slightly, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “I don’t assume you’ll be finding them a place to stay?”

    “Even better.” Her response was immediate, but sounded more confident than anything she had said earlier. “They can stay with us and earn their keep at the diner.”

    Isaac scoffed again. “You’re supposed to be there right now, how can I trust that you’ll hold them to work?”

    She looked a little nervous for a minute. “I’m not there today for personal reasons.” She regained her composure before delivering a final answer. “You can trust that I’ll handle it because Marshal and I have an agreement about leaving in the morning, it wouldn’t be hard to brief them on the details and get them involved.”

    “And if I don’t trust five Voyagers staying in one apartment?”

    “Don’t associate us with that group.” Elizabeth answered in a cold yet stern tone that told the others that she had sworn off the Voyagers.

    Isaac seemed pleased with her answer. “One chance. That’s all I’m giving each of you. If I hear of any problems from either owners, you’ll be handled my way.” He directed his vision to Elizabeth. “If I hear of any problems from anybody else, it’ll be your call to answer to.”

    She nodded before standing and doing a small curtsy. “If you’ll follow me.”

    The three cautiously rose, one after the other. They followed Elizabeth out of headquarters and across the street. She took a key from her pocket and led them to a third floor apartment.

    After the four of them entered the apartment, she shut and locked the door behind them.

    Before anyone could question her, tears were streaming down her face. “I’m so sorry you guys had to get mixed into this…”

    Joseph, who was previously angry at her, seemed to settle once she broke down. “Was it all an act?”

    She nodded and sniffled a bit, wiping the tears from her face. “I would never do anything to hurt you guys. I wanted to keep you all safe and I failed at that before, I’m not going to fail again.”

    Eris thought back to the walk to the apartments when judging Elizabeth’s words. She hadn’t seen any chip on her, which made Eris feel like her words were genuine, but the way she acted in the conference room made her unsure of it. “You haven’t failed us.”

    “Stop.” Elizabeth took a few deep breaths before looking to Eris. “Don’t try to tell me that I’ve done everything right, none of us would be here if I did.”

    Ethan still looked suspicious of her, which was reasonable considering he never interacted with Elizabeth much in the bunker. “Why are you getting so worked up?”

    “I’m not getting worked up!” She flinched at her own tone and closed her eyes. “I just need to get this worked out.” She opened her eyes again. “The guest bedroom has a twin size bed and the couch pulls out into a bed, you can decided who sleeps where.”

    Ethan spoke up without a second thought. “I’ll sleep out here.”

    Elizabeth nodded. “It’s for the best.” She pointed to the center of three doors. “Bathroom’s there,” she moved to point at the next door on the right. “Joseph and Eris, that’ll be your room. The other room belongs to Marshal and I.” She stopped pointing and looked to one final door on the right side of the living room. “That’s the kitchen. Marshal makes breakfast really early so we can be out on time, but we’re never around for any other meal.”

    Joseph and Ethan moved to the center of the room, picking up the table that sat in front of the couch and moving it to the side. “Should we leave that there?”

    Elizabeth looked at the table for a minute. “For now. I’ll talk to Marshal about it later.” She helped in pulling the bed out of the couch, but still seemed a little off. “The linen closet is in the bathroom, extra pillows and blankets are in there.”

    Ethan left the living room to retrieve what he would need from the linen closet before setting up his bed. “Is there anything else we need to do?”

    She led Eris to the guest room. “We haven’t really had the time to clean up the guest room, so do with it as you guys please.”

    Elizabeth disappeared after the order and the trio that was Joseph, Eris, and Ethan went into the guest bedroom. “She’s being really weird, which is saying a lot considering who she is.”

    Joseph nodded in agreement. “Something’s going on with her, but I don’t think it has anything to do with the Onyx Organization.”

    Eris started picking up various pieces of paper on the floor and discarding them appropriately. “She mentioned Marshal a bit and talking to him about the table. Maybe he said something about her being too controlling.”

    Ethan looked at her, surprised at her confidence. “That was a really specific guess.”

    Eris shrugged, a small smile on her face. “First, I’ve known them both since they were kids and I know what they look for and what they hate in partners. Second, being married to that one for nearly ten years has taught me some lessons on being more observant.”

    Joseph rolled his eyes. “She used to hand somebody a gun with the barrel facing them. It took her four or five lectures to catch on, but she eventually got it.”

    She smirked, looking over the books on the bookshelf. “I’m not the one who needs to be handling a gun either way.”

    The three worked towards cleaning the room until mid afternoon when the front door opened. They all poked out to see who had arrived, only to find it was Elizabeth returning from wherever she had gone. “Where did you go?”

    “I’m going to have to get used to being questioned again.” She sighed before fixing a smile on her face. “I went to the doctor.”

    Eris gave her a look of concern before remembering how exhausted she seemed earlier. “Are you alright?”

    “Of course. It was a routine checkup.”

    The three backed off, seeing she wasn’t ready to share details.

    “That could explain the way she was acting.” Ethan commented. “I’ve seen people get some pretty bad attitudes when they’re sick.”

    Joseph agreed. “Some of the nicest people can become unbearable to be around when they’re sick.”

    “She, Lecia, and Filip are all ‘one of those’ people.” Eris paused her reading just for a short moment to comment.

    Evening rolled around without any mention of when they could expect Marshal, but they figured it would be a bit after Elizabeth started making dinner for them.

    During dinner, they discussed how work would go for them. “Marshal and I get up at four to open at five. Serving all three meals doesn’t really give you time for a break, but we’re trying to work something out for that. We usually eat at the diner since we know we won’t be home until after nine. Once we get home, we do whatever we need to do to get ready for the next day and then we go to bed.” She shrugs. “It’s a boring routine, but it keeps us alive.”

    “How do you plan on waking us up?”

    “I don’t need to.” She chuckled. “Marshal’s really good about getting up so early and he won’t let you sleep any later than four fifteen since he doesn’t like being late.”

    Ethan rolled his eyes. “And you’re his wife. There’s no telling what time he’ll wake the rest of us up.”

    “Or with what.” Elizabeth added in a whisper.

    “That sounded really threatening.” Eris spoke up. “Should we be worried?”

    Elizabeth shook her head, a smile on her face. “Sometimes he’s really gentle about waking up, he’ll just mention the time until there’s no choice. Other times, well, he’s not so gentle about it. I don’t think he would go that far with you guys, though.”

    The three of them shared a look before agreeing that whatever the not-so-gentle wake up method was, it wasn’t their business.

    After dinner, they lounged around the apartment and started on attempts at getting used to their new setting.

    It was past ten, like Elizabeth mentioned, before Marshal got home.

    The three were in the guest room, which gave Elizabeth the perfect opportunity to mention their arrival to Marshal.

    The two were locked in an embrace, talking to each other in hushed whispers for a few minutes until he pulled away from her, the look on his face letting the group know that he now knew of their presence.

    They showed themselves and were each greeted with a hug. “I would have been here sooner, had I known.” He seemed hesitant on questioning them, but he ultimately decided to ask it anyways. “How did you guys get caught?”

  • 3.9
    The group agreed to start at the diner the next day, partially in fear of Isaac’s response if they didn’t and partially in fear of being separated from each other.

    Eris had thought that Elizabeth exaggerated a bit on the overall busyness of the place, but she quickly realized that there was going to be no chance of a break. The rush of it all made her feel a little bad that Marshal had been left alone the day before, but he said it wasn’t anything to worry about and he had it handled.

    The diner was in nice condition. The entire place had recently been cleaned and the walls looked like they had just been painted over and the tiles on the floor redone.

    Elizabeth had instructed Joseph to help Marshal in the kitchen and Ethan to help her with orders. She was unsure of what to task Eris with, so she told her to do whatever she felt needed to be done and to act busy whenever Organization members came through.

    She helped Ethan and Elizabeth through the first half of the day and moved towards the kitchen after noon hit and the lunch rush started. Marshal seemed stressed after Eris stepped in, which made her think he was a bit overwhelmed. She wanted to talk to him about it, but after the shift in attitude that Elizabeth had, she wasn’t so sure he would be the same person she knew. “Hey, you holding up okay?”

    “Perfectly fine.” As Eris got closer, he turned away from her. It made her realize that she hadn’t actually seen his face since she’d been there. Even when they talked the night before, he’d tried to keep busy around the apartment, often avoiding the group’s vision.

    She sidled up to Joseph and lowered her voice. “Have you talked to him at all today?”
    He shook his head. “He’s been instructing me on whatever comes through, but we haven’t had a conversation yet.”

    They heard a sigh across the kitchen before the sound of something hitting a cutting board took over. “I haven’t been talking because there’s no time to do anything before there’s another order coming through. Those two are just as busy as us, they haven’t even had time to sit down yet.” He stopped chopping what he had in his hand and moved to the stove. “Eris, can you keep chopping?”

    She moved to the cutting board and worked on what Marshal had started. “You two seem different now.”

    She caught an accusatory glare from him before he returned to his task. “We’ve had to adapt to living and working here. It’s been stressful, but we’ve both been making it more difficult than it has to be.”

    “Why have you been making difficult on yourselves?” Joseph questioned from the other side of the kitchen.

    “Because if they see us struggling or hurting, they’ll leave us alone. They want to ruin us and by seeing us in such a miserable state, they think they’re getting their way and they don’t need to make any changes.”

    Joseph stopped his task to walk to Marshal’s side. “That explains your bruises then, right?”

    Eris stopped chopping and stood on Marshal’s left, giving him no way of escaping the talk. “Not necessarily. Someone from Onyx did cause them, but by the rules they’ve laid out for us, I deserved it.”

    “Rules?” Ethan’s voice spoke from the doorway.

    Marshal nodded. “We’ve got a specific set of rules that we have to follow to keep from being chipped. One slip up and that’s it. It’s different for the both of us, though, so it wouldn’t surprise me if it was different for you guys as well.”

    By the time the three looked back to the door, Ethan had already disappeared. Joseph turned his attention back to what his biggest priority was. “You may have caused them, but who gave you the bruises?”

    “Believe it or not, I got most of them before we were a mile from the bunker.” He paused, a growing look of concern on his face. “There was a woman who was with Luke when he first came around. I’m not sure if she was trying to manipulate us or something, but she always said she hated how the two of us were treated and offer us a few bits of information under the table. She comes in daily, well she used to, I haven’t seen her today.”

    Eris thought of the day before and the woman who had come around. “There was a woman around yesterday, what’s the name of the one you’re looking for?”

    “Mallory.” He could tell by the look on her face that something had happened. “Who did it?”

    Eris and Joseph shared a look of uncertainty before Eris narrowed down her options. “I don’t have a certain answer, but I have my suspects…”

    [Accuse Milo]
    [Accuse Ethan]
    [Accuse Filip]
    [Accuse Marie]

    Chelsea Hampton

    The September afternoon she had arrived, Chelsea had gotten word that her father had left for Vatican City, giving her an all clear to act on her own will. She had gone to a third floor apartment that files claimed the person she was looking for lived in.

    She gave the door a strong knock, as a word of warning to whoever was inside, letting them know that she meant business.
    After a moment of silence, she banged on the door again, somebody in the apartment next door opening their door. “Are you trying to break the door down or let them know you’re there?” The man spoke in a rather rude tone.

    Chelsea sighed, keeping her eyes on the neighbor. “Are they home or not?”
    He shook his head. “They normally aren’t. They run the diner on Fourth, so you’d have better luck finding them there.”

    She turned towards the stairs and passed by the man, giving him a nod as she went. “Thank you for the information.”

    The walk to Fourth was close to thirty minutes and probably a walk made easier in the early morning or late night, since many cars didn’t allow walkers to go before them.
    Going into the diner, she knew it was going to be difficult to get someone alone. The place was full and the waiter and waitress were all over the room.

    The waiter noticed her arrival first and went to her with a menu. “Take a seat anywhere you like, one of us will hopefully be with you soon.”

    Chelsea watched the waiter go to the waitress and whisper something to her, then caught her looking over her shoulder as she made her way to an empty booth.

    She had started to doze off after a bit, the cozy aura of the diner soothing her. She had started to think they had forgotten about her after some time had passed. She began packing her stuff with a sigh until someone slid into her view.

    A different waitress than the one from earlier now stood in front of Chelsea, a notepad in her hands and smile fixed on her face. “I apologize for the wait, we’re still working out a little bump in the road with staffing.” Her bright smile faded to a shyer one. “We figured we would need less people, but running the floor makes me think we’re going to need more.”

    “How many people do you have working right now?” Chelsea knew that some of the workers lived together, based on the neighbor’s comment.

    The waitress was a petite woman, much like Chelsea, with light blonde hair that was pulled back into a bun and blue eyes a few shades lighter than Chelsea. “Five people.” She chuckled, the brighter smile from earlier returning to her. “It was only two at a time before, which was crazy to think about.”

    “And do you all live together?”

    Chelsea’s question was greeted with a bit of shock. “Yeah… We all live together, how’d you know that?”

    Looking around the diner, Chelsea noticed that both the waiter and the waitress had both been replaced for the moment. “I had a quick chat with your neighbor.” A wave of frustration crossed Chelsea. “I came here looking for a woman named Elizabeth, is she here right now?”

    The waitress nodded hesitantly before lowering the notepad in her hands. “She’s in the back, one minute please.”

    She went across the diner, leaning into the kitchen and talking to someone that Chelsea couldn’t see. Chelsea couldn’t really make out what she was saying, but she noticed her nod a few times and raise her hands in a defensive manner before she seemed to start arguing with whoever she was talking to.

    After a minute, she turned out of the kitchen and took a deep breath, flattening her apron with her hands before going to another table.

    Chelsea watched the kitchen door for what felt like an eternity, the chatter of other customers drowning in silence. The world went still until another woman walked out of the kitchen and started heading Chelsea’s way.

    She couldn’t help but be a little nervous, knowing she could get every answer she needed right then or nothing at all.
    The woman wore a similar outfit to the other waitress. A black knee-length skirt with a white shirt tucked in, the only difference between the two being the blonde woman had an apron while the other one didn’t.

    She forced a smile as she greeted Chelsea with an extended hand. Chelsea shook her hand and must have looked confused, as it seemed to provoke a comment from the woman. “My name is Elizabeth, I was told you were asking for me. How can I help you?”

    Chelsea looked over her for a minute, gathering the details she could. The look on her face told Chelsea that she was exhausted and would rather not be there at the moment. Her appearance wasn’t one she expected of a Voyager in the slightest. She was clean and kept her hair appropriately tame, which looked difficult for the curls Chelsea could see. “I had a few questions for you about an email you sent me.”

    Her smile faded and she folded her hands in front of her. “An email? What do you mean?”

    Chelsea glared at her with a frown coming on her face. “You sent an email with classified Onyx Organization information to me and I’d like to know why you did it.”

    Elizabeth seemed to mull over a thought for a moment before her eyes lit up. “Are you Chelsea Hampton?”

    The question worried Chelsea for a minute, making her wonder how the woman couldn’t know who she sent the email to. “How many people did you send classified information to?”

    “Only you.” A smile came across her face again. “I would have thought that the system’s commands would counteract each other and prevent the email from sending, but this is great news!”

    “What are you talking about?”

    Elizabeth looked over the diner before frowning. “I can’t tell you right now and I especially can’t tell you here. There are things even the Voyagers don’t know and I don’t intend to spill all my secrets because someone heard something they shouldn’t have.”

    “What time do you get off?” Chelsea surprised herself with her own determination, but it was a feeling she could get used to.

    She shrugged in response. “It’s Friday, right?” Chelsea nods. “Then after ten.”

    “I’ll be waiting behind the diner at ten.” Chelsea gathered her belongings before pointing at Elizabeth. “Do not let me down.”

    Brent Russo

    “I expect you all the have your partners by Monday at the latest, consider this extension your lucky breaks.” Their science teacher’s voice rang out as she prepared for class to be dismissed. She looked to the clock before stepping behind her desk. “Have a safe weekend.”

    The bell rang and the students jumped out of their seats almost in perfect sequence. They started filing out of the classroom, most people going to the courtyard to meet up with their friends and talk about plans for the weekend.

    Brent usually met with Elias in the classroom since they had the same last class, but once everyone had scattered from the room, Brent realized he was the last one there.

    “Mr. Russo, that was the bell.” The science teacher spoke up.

    Looking over, Brent saw she already had all of her things in hand, a key pulled out, and a stressed look on her face as she waited in front of the door. “Was it?”

    The students in the academy had had the same teachers since they were in their first year, so the teachers could read them like books. “I’m sorry you missed Elias, Brent, but I’ve got grading to do once I get home.”

    Brent grabbed his bag and sighed, heading towards the door. “Sorry Mrs. Olane…”

    They left the room, Brent going to the courtyard to see if Elias might have gotten mixed up in the crowd, which had happened to the both of them before.

    Looking around the courtyard, Brent saw a cluster of black, red, and white from all the uniforms. He spotted a familiar backpack on a boy with curly brown hair and jogged down the stairs, sprinting after him. “Elias!”
    The boy stopped and turned back, waiting for Brent to catch up. “What took you so long?”

    “I figured we were meeting in the classroom like we always do. Why are you in a rush?” Brent reached in his pocket and pulled out a pair of sunglasses, putting them on just as the two of them walked out of the shade.

    “Stella invited me to the premiere of her latest movie, I need to get ready.”

    Brent stopped in his tracks. “The movie? Elias, you still don’t have a partner for the science project and you haven’t got anything planned for it.”

    “So?”

    Brent started walking again to catch up. “June Lee doesn’t have a partner, but she can get you the grade you need.”

    “I don’t need any grade, Brent, don’t be dramatic.” A smirk came over Elias.

    “I’ve seen your grades, man. If you don’t pass this project, you’re going to fail the class and your parents are going to snap on you.” The two walked to the edge of school grounds before stopping. “Your dad isn’t messing around anymore, we both know this.”

    His smirk faded before he crossed his arms. He didn’t respond, but Brent knew he was getting to him.

    “Go to the movies with Stella, but you need to pick a partner by tomorrow.”

    Chelsea Hampton

    Chelsea found her way back to the diner after ten and slid into the alley behind the place, trying to keep from grabbing an unnecessary attention.

    Half past ten, the back door opened and Elizabeth joined her in the alley. “It was my night to clean up, I would have been here on time if it wasn’t.” She locked the back door and spun on her heel to face Chelsea. “Alright, what is it you want?”

    “I already told you about it earlier, but I’ve got more questions for you.” Chelsea couldn’t tell if Elizabeth was here to help or if she was here to get some answers of her own. “How did you manage to form a fake identity without getting caught?”

    “I can’t tell you that.” She paused. “Unless you tell me how you’ve managed to stay unchipped since you’ve been here.”

    They were both there for answers, but for now Chelsea had the upper hand. “My dad isn’t around to order I be chipped yet. That’s why I can here for answers.”

    She nodded. “We picked up identities of actual agents who gave up on their jobs. Their records would be manipulated to fit our descriptions and their chips would be destroyed.”

    “What about what’s inside the chip?”

    Chelsea could tell Elizabeth had enough questions that they could go back and forth all they wanted to. “How did you convince Georgie Kenny to remove your chip?”

    “I let him know there’s a difference in the substances for the chips they used and the chips Onyx uses. Your turn.”

    “We collected the substances inside the chips and selected a few and injected smaller doses that gradually got greater every time to-“

    Chelsea cut her off. “Build an immunity…” Chelsea turned and started walking out of the alley. “I need you to come with me to the apartments, get your people, and meet me at headquarters.”

    “Why?” Elizabeth questioned, but followed her anyways.

    Chelsea debated on keeping it a secret for the time being, but decided if she was going to gain Elizabeth’s trust, she would need to tell her the truth. Chelsea stopped and looked around, lowering her voice to a whisper when Elizabeth stopped next to her. “I need you to help me build an immunity so I can remember what I learn and keep my own conscience.”

    Elizabeth responded with a look of shock. “You’re kidding me, right? When does your dad get back?” She started pacing. “Never mind, there’s no way you can build up an immunity in a matter of days, it might kill you before you make any progress. How would we even get the substance?”

    Chelsea moved to stop Elizabeth. “You’re either with me or against me on this. Keep in mind, I’m a very powerful ally to have and one of the worst enemies you can make. This is your last chance, will you help me or not?”

    She knew there was no real option and that she had to help Chelsea. She made the mistake of telling her about the immunities and identities, now she had to find a way to keep Chelsea from telling. “I’ll help, but I’m not administering it.”

    Chelsea turned to start walking to their destination, Elizabeth following behind her. “That’s a weird condition, why not?”

    “I nearly died last time I got involved in a situation similar to this. Regardless of what the others will tell you, I’ve learned my lesson.”

    Chelsea pointed to her cheek. “Is that where the scar came from?”

    She nodded but seemed to flinch before she spoke. “It’s where both scars came from. It’s a shame Cyrus isn’t here, he had a real nasty bruise from it.”

    “You realize you just gave up a name to an Organization member, right?”

    “Of course I do.” She seemed a little offended. “They already know about Cyrus, Milo, and obviously everyone they have here.”

    After they got closer to headquarters, Elizabeth started distancing herself to go to the apartments.

    They split up, Chelsea waiting for her and her people in front of headquarters for about ten minutes until five people left the apartment Elizabeth went into, her, the waitress, and the waiter being three of them.

    The two new men introduced themselves before allowing Chelsea to go over her plan.
    “I can get us into nearly any room in headquarters, but I need at least one of you to know where we’re going. I need someone to keep on watch and at worst, someone to pose a distraction.”

    The group looked over each other before they collectively turned to Elizabeth. She looked over them with a sour look on her face. “They’re only volunteering me so I can take blame if something goes wrong. Three of you, I can understand, but I believe Marshal and I need to have a talk when we get home.”

    Chelsea stayed quite, waiting for someone else to expand on what Elizabeth said so she could decipher the relations between the group. Eris cracked a small smile before putting a hand on Elizabeth’s shoulder. “I think Ethan’s the only one who can reasonably blame you.”

    Elizabeth scoffed and crossed her arms. “I’ll listen when you tell me why my husband is willing to let me make these types of decisions when he knows what goes on in my head.”

    Chelsea saw a look cross Marshal’s face before he nodded. “She’s right, there’s a lot of weird things going on in there.” He kept on before she could respond. “If nobody wants to make the decision then I will. We’ve got enough people that we can double up on something. Eris and Ethan should keep watch since Eris can’t do much and Ethan has nothing to lose. Joseph should stay with them and pose a distraction if he needs to. Elizabeth and I know headquarters pretty well, so we’ll help Chelsea out.”

    Chelsea looked over them to see that they were all in agreement. “Then let’s get going.”
    They went into headquarters, which was empty, using Chelsea’s eyes to get through a retina scanner that was used as an alternative to a key. Splitting up, Chelsea, Elizabeth, and Marshal went further into the building while the rest stayed in the lobby.
    Elizabeth led them, staying quiet as she studied each door she passed.

    “Chelsea, why do you want to do this?” Marshal broke the silence between the two of them, but he didn’t seem too worried about being in headquarters.

    Chelsea’s current focus was an immunity, but if she wanted what she really transferred for, she needed to earn the trust of the Voyagers and keep it. “I don’t know when my father is returning, but I have so much more to learn about before my mind is wiped. I can’t just give up my life without answers.”

    He stayed silent for a moment before Chelsea caught a glare from him. She could tell he was already suspicious of him. “That’s respectable. What answers are you looking for?”

    “Just some questions for my father and some other people from the Organization.” She turned to him, trying to keep from raising his suspicions anymore. “Why do you ask?”

    “Nobody really enlists the enemy’s help when they’re looking for answers from their own people, especially their father.” He seemed to lighten up before putting his hands in his pockets. “I wouldn’t know, though. I’ve never been close with my father and I’m not a father, so I can’t say our situations are anywhere remotely similar.”

    Elizabeth sighed from up ahead. “If I have to tell you one more time to go easy on your dad, I’m going to set you up in an unfortunate situation where you have to bond with him.”

    A look of guilt crossed over Marshal’s face. He lowered his voice as he kept walking, letting Elizabeth get farther ahead. “David died before she was four, so she doesn’t remember her dad at all. If your father has anything to look it for, it’s her. Consider that a fair warning for the both of you.”

    The name seemed familiar, David. “How old is she now?”

    “Twenty-seven in a little over a month.”

    David had died over twenty-four years ago, which was before Chelsea was born. “How do I know that name?” Her mind starting blurring and her vision started hazing, but she felt perfectly fine.

    “Pardon me?” Marshal’s response snapped Chelsea back to the current.

    Chelsea looked around, the hallway was as clear as it was before she started thinking hard on the name. “I was thinking out loud, I guess.”

    Elizabeth stopped in front of a door that had another retina scanner, but she looked upset now. She didn’t say anything as Chelsea unlocked the door and quickly located the substance. She transferred a bit into a plastic bag to keep from unsettling any scientists the next day.

    They left the lab in silence and held onto that silence until the reached closer to the lobby. Elizabeth had stopped in front of another retina scanner and looked to Chelsea. “The security system is behind this door. If you’ll get us in, I can clear the camera feed and retina records. If time is on our side, I might be able to modify your chip too.”

    Chelsea got the door open without a question and Elizabeth immediately got to work. Marshal looked at a nearby table that had labeled chips on it. “How are you going to modify her chip?”

    “Most chips have a certain phrase that’s quite outlandish or person who’s rarely around that can bypass the chip’s effects until the phrase is said again or the person is out of sight. I can modify hers to bypass whenever she sees Ethan at the diner.” She looked over the table herself before returning to the monitors. “It should have already been programmed, so I won’t need to worry about somebody discovering my work or reworking it.”

    “Why Ethan?” Chelsea felt the question might have an obvious answer, but she needed to hear it from Elizabeth herself.

    “Because he’s a waiter, he’s always and will always be on the main floor.”

    “Aren’t you a waitress?”

    Elizabeth seemed to grow nervous. “For a few more months, but you missed me today, remember? There’s no assurance I’ll always be there.”

    Marshal gave her the same suspicious look he gave Chelsea earlier. “Do you have a plan at the end of those few more months?”

    “Yeah, maternity leave. I think as my husband, my boss, and the father, you can get behind that idea.” While she gave a smile, Chelsea could sense that Elizabeth was more nervous than she’d been the entire time they’d been in headquarters.

    Marshal quickly left the room without a word leaving the two women there. Chelsea wasn’t too bothered by it, as there was nothing to tell her they needed to be worried about. “Were you being serious?”

    “As serious as I could be.” Elizabeth now returned to working on the computer. “The day Eris, Joseph, and Ethan had showed up, I had a doctor’s appointment to get some advice on timing and get a check-up. We tried to put that advice to use for five months with no results. It was a little discouraging, but Marshal convinced me not to give up on it.”

    Chelsea leaned on the doorway. “When did you find out?”

    “Two or three weeks ago.” She chuckled. “I didn’t really know how to tell him, so I guess I owe you thanks for giving me the opportunity to do it tonight.”

    “It’s not exactly what I’m here for, but Im glad I could be of use.” Chelsea moved to the table that held the chips and picked up the one that had her name above it, taking it to Elizabeth’s side at the computer. “How do you think he’s taking it?”

    “That’s a great question.” Elizabeth took the chip from Chelsea and placed it next to the computer, moving some wires around before she hooked a small wire into the computer and the chip. “I know he would have rather me told him when it was just the two of us and probably anywhere that’s not here, but I think he’s taking it well. He’s all talk, Chelsea, I promise. I’ve noticed you seem a little uneasy around him and it’s probably based on the way he talks to you or the looks he gives, but he’s always on alert, that’s just who he is. He doesn’t have anything against you and if he didn’t want to help you then he wouldn’t have shown up. Same goes for the rest of them. We were all taught to watch out for the world and sneak up on the world when it’s not looking.”

    “The world was taught that you were the enemies and you needed to be killed, so I can’t say I blame you for not being direct in your goals.”

    Elizabeth stopped responding as she narrowed her eyes, focusing on something on the computer screen.

    After a few moments of silence, she unplugged the chip and returned everything to the way it was, dropping the chip in its place as she headed for the door. “We’ve got less than five minutes until the cameras resume their normal function.”

    They went into the lobby only to find Ethan on his own, a small look of concern on his face. “Did everything go alright back there?” Elizabeth nods in response. “Then why did Marshal come through on his own? Joseph and Eris went after him.”

    Chelsea looked to Elizabeth and quickly picked up on the fact that she didn’t want to tell the whole group just yet. “We sent him back to the apartment for something, turns out we didn’t need it.”

    The three of them went to the apartment, Elizabeth stopping Chelsea after Ethan went in. “Thanks for covering for me. To answer your question from earlier, the name is familiar to you because our fathers were very close friends.”

    Elizabeth handed the bag from the lab to Chelsea and went in the apartment with Chelsea a few feet behind her. “Wait, I want to do this tonight. For all I know, he’ll be back tomorrow and I can’t wait another day.”

    The five gathered in the apartment looked over each other, none of them saying anything until Joseph had shut the door. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

    Chelsea handed the bag to Joseph. “You were in charge of the sick, right? You can do this.”

    Joseph took the bag hesitantly, looking to Eris for an answer on whether he should do it or not. She gives a quick nod and Joseph sighed. “Okay, let’s do this. Marshal, find something that you can tie around her arm that’ll make it easier to find her veins. Elizabeth, I’ve got a sneaking suspicion that you know where I can find a needle. Eris, help her get comfortable.” He points to Ethan. “Stay on guard.”

    They all scattered the apartment, each of them doing what they were told. Eris got Chelsea settled on a loveseat next to the bed that had been pulled out of the sofa, giving her a pillow and blanket. Marshal returned soon after that and adjusted a belt to the function of a tourniquet. Elizabeth and Joseph stayed by Chelsea’s side while Ethan watched over the whole room.

    Elizabeth noticed a look Chelsea gave the needle and took her hand, getting her attention. “Don’t look at it, look at me, talk to me.”

    Chelsea gave an unsure nod as she focused her attention on Elizabeth. “What’s it going to do to me?”

    “It’s just going to be a pinch. It should make you feel a little hazy for a few hours, then you’ll be back to normal. We’re going to keep an eye on you until you reach that normal.”

    Chelsea reached into her pocket with her free hand and pulled out a pair of keys. “My bags are in my rental downstairs.” She passed the keys off to Elizabeth and felt her body stiffen when a gloved hand wrapped around her arm.

    Before she could turn to look, someone else had wrapped their hands around her head, preventing her from turning. “I know you want to know what’s going on, but it’s for the better that you keep from scaring yourself.” It was Eris.

    The pinch that Elizabeth had mentioned happened as soon as Eris finished talking. Eris let go of Chelsea’s head, allowing her to turn to find the needle out of her arm and Joseph removing the belt from her arm. “Is it over?”

    Elizabeth let go of Chelsea’s hand, giving the keys to Ethan. “It’s done, you did good. Ethan and I are going to get your stuff, but we’ll be back.”

    The two left the apartment while Marshal kept an eye on Chelsea and checked her physical and vocal responses by having her move and continuing to talk.

    She noticed a concerned look come over Marshal as her own words started to jumble into one word and the apartment closed in on her. “Chelsea, you need to sit down.”

    Taking the command, Chelsea went to sit down as someone reached out to her and called for Joseph when she collapsed on the ground.

    “Joseph, what did you do?!” Eris questioned as Marshal moved Chelsea back to the loveseat.

    Joseph ignored the question and rushed to Chelsea’s side. He felt for a pulse, finding one was still there. Weak, but there. “Don’t immediately place blame on me. It’s been four years since we first got our hands on their stuff, there’s no doubt they’ve changed something.”

    Elizabeth and Ethan returned with Chelsea’s things, quickly dropping them when they saw the condition she was in. “What happened?”

    “She just collapsed.”

    Chelsea’s world had gone dark. Cold. Quiet. Empty.

    It had been empty long before that night, but she had found a little hope once she realized how close she was to getting answers about Luke.

    Now she would never know.

    Chelsea opened her eyes to a bright blue sky without a cloud in sight.

    She slowly sat up to find herself in a grass field, a small structure nearby.

    Pushing herself off the ground, she stumbled towards the structure.

    For once in countless years, she felt at peace while she walked through the grassy field. She was barefoot, but hadn’t yet stepped on any rocks or broken bottles.
    As she reached the structure, she placed her hand on one of the support beams to catch her breath.

    She turned at the sound of someone moving behind her and saw the back of a woman with long blonde hair. She wore a peach colored dress that went down to her ankles, her feet also bare. “Hello?”

    The woman turned, a bright smile on her face. “Chelsea, you’re not supposed to be here. Not yet, dear.”

    As the woman came closer, her brown eyes met Chelsea’s blue eyes. It was then Chelsea knew who she was looking at. “Mom? Where am I?”

    Karen’s big smile turned into a softer one as she approached her daughter with arms wide open. “You can’t stay too long, dear, you’ve got a crowd waiting for you.”

    Chelsea ran into her mother’s arms, burying her face in her mother’s shoulder. “I think I messed up.”

    She felt a hand running through her hair as her mother held her closer. “You haven’t yet. Your choices so far have brought you here, but you’ve made some amazing choices. Your new friends are already working on helping you.”

    Chelsea felt tears running down her face as she held onto Karen. “If I go back, will I find what I came home for?”

    Her mother gave a soft laugh. “I can’t tell the future, Chels, but if you stay on the same path with the same people, you’ll find what you desire in no time. You know, you’re a lot like me and I think that always upset your father. It was bad enough having one woman so determined that she lost her life for what she was searching for, now he’s got another.”

    “Does he know I’m home again?”

    “That I don’t know.” Karen pulled away from the hug and looked Chelsea in the eyes, a smile forming on her face once again. “Chelsea, look up at the sky.”

    Chelsea looked up at her mother’s command. “What should I be looking for?”

    “Nothing right now, but that’s where I’ll be watching you when you go back.” Chelsea looked back to her mother, who was still looking at the sky. “You’ve chosen your investigation team. They’re going to expect things from you as you expect from them, they’re going to communicate with you as you communicate with them. I know your father always told you they were the rats of Onyx, but my only request is you let them help you find what you desire and help them find what they desire. They’ll care for you just as I did, if you let them, of course.”

    Karen looked back to Chelsea, a sad look in her brown eyes but a smile still on her face. “Should I really trust them?”

    “Treat them as your friends and they’ll treat you as their family.” Karen lowered her hands to her sides. “They’ll accept you, but it won’t come without punishment. Your father will accept you, but that also won’t come without punishment. Spend time with the group and spend time with your father to decide what’s best for you.” Karen pulled Chelsea into her arm. “It’s getting too late, they’ve already tried bringing you back for well over an hour now.”

    “Mom-“

    “You’re running out of time, my love. You and I can spend eternity together when it is your time to go, but that’s not right now.” Karen pulled away again and placed a kiss on Chelsea’s forehead. “I’m very proud of the strong woman you’ve become.”

    Chelsea began walking away from the structure, back the way she came from. She felt her mother watching her as she went. She turned and started running back to Karen, only stopped when she ran into her arms one last time. “I love you…”

    She felt the air around her getting cold. “And I love you, my dear, but you must get going.”

    Chelsea pulled away from Karen and started running down the path she came from.

    It took her into some trees the caused the world around her to get dark as she went.

    The deeper into the trees she went, the less she felt.

    Her world was greeted by darkness once more.

    Her numb body regained feeling at the feeling of somebody pushing down on her chest.

    She couldn’t see, couldn’t hear, but she hoped that they were going to save her.

    The Voyagers didn’t need to keep Chelsea alive, they had no use for her alive and would be better off if she were dead, but she needed the information they had.

    She forced her eyes open to see a brown blur, the pressure on her chest continuing.

    She looked down and the pressure stopped.

    In a matter of seconds, she was surrounded and had two pairs of hands all over her. “Her pulse is back, breathing is slow but it’s better than nothing, eyes are open.” A hand snapped their fingers in front of her. “No response yet.” A pair of hands pulled her up to sit. Marshal got on eye level with her and started studying her. “Breathe in through your nose, out from your mouth.” Chelsea nodded and started doing as he said. “She’s slowly responding now.”

    “What happened?”

    “We nearly lost you right there. After you collapsed, you stopped breathing.” Chelsea looked around, noticing the panicked looks on the Voyagers surrounding her. “Joseph had to give you CPR, but I’m pretty sure it saved your life. How are you feeling?”

    She had to think on it for a moment, nothing coming to her head. “Sick.”

    He nodded and looked around. “Joseph, Elizabeth, help me with her.” The three worked to move her to the bedroom and Marshal took a minute to explain why they did it. “Your body is in bad condition right now and you could easily overheat because of what you took. One way to prevent overheating is to remove clothes that you don’t need. Elizabeth’s going to stay here with you and we’re going to check in from time to time, okay?” She nods in response, Marshal quickly turning to Elizabeth. “Do not let her go to sleep and make sure she stays on her side.”

    After Marshal and Joseph left, Elizabeth let Chelsea do what she needed to while staying in line with the orders she had been given. The two of them talked for a few hours before Joseph checked in with them again.

    Chelsea didn’t mention what she saw and what she was told before she was brought back in fear of it putting too much pressure on Elizabeth, even though she didn’t know what to say on the topic herself.

    Joseph did the same tests on her that Marshal did when she first returned. He told Elizabeth she wasn’t ready to go back out and left the room. He returned with Marshal another hour later and they both did the tests, both of them agreeing she could get put whatever she wanted to on and go back into the living room. They left with Elizabeth to allow Chelsea some privacy.

    She got dressed and left the bedroom, looking around at the faces staring at her. “If it isn’t Lindsey Brigman herself.” Ethan commented from his seat. “How’re you doing?”

    “Not dead, so that’s an improvement.” Chelsea sat down, wincing at a pain in her sides as she did. “I feel like something’s broken, though.”

    “Maybe not broken but fractured.” Ethan shrugged. “Eris didn’t let herself or Elizabeth get involved with the CPR because she figured it was better off letting Joseph and Marshal handle it since they were the ones around when you hit the ground and they’re the closest thing to a doctor you’re going to get.”

    “How long was I out?”

    “Nearly three hours.” Ethan crossed his arms, leaning back in his seat. “Your breathing stopped not long after you hit the ground and your heart was barely kept around by the compressions. It went out when Joseph and Marshal switched but started back up after some more compressions.”

    “What caused it?”

    “We don’t really know for sure, but Joseph has a feeling he might have accidentally given you too much.”

    Chelsea felt a frown go over her face. “But that doesn’t make sense. The chip probably has more than what Joseph gave me inside it and it’s not killing anybody.”

    “I wouldn’t say that’s the case. The chips do have more than what Joseph gave you, but they’re designed to go through at a set pace, never all at once.” Chelsea did her best to look over the back of the loveseat to talk with Elizabeth, but she could tell she was only going to hurt herself the more she tried.

    Before she had a chance to respond to Elizabeth, the others had come into the living room. Joseph and Marshal started talking to Chelsea, she figured it was to test her responses.

    Eris waited until after their testing to say anything. “We have about thirty minutes until we open, so we should probably get going.”

    “Someone should stay with Chelsea. She’s not capable of going anywhere and she not stable enough to be alone.” Ethan chimed in from his seat. “I’m not volunteering, though.”

    “I think Joseph and Marshal are the two most qualified to stay here. They’ve been taking care of her since it happened, it’s best not to shake anything up.” Eris responded, withdrawing herself from the options.

    “The problem is, none of us have been to sleep for an entire day now. I’m not psyched about working another sixteen hours on top of that, but it’s what we have to do. The choice of who stays should be left up to Chelsea, but whoever stays needs to stay awake and be with her.” Joseph added.

    Chelsea looked over her three options. She knew the most about Elizabeth and she did feel bad for making her stay up the entire night when she’s the one who needed rest the most, but she didn’t know how much medical knowledge she held. Joseph was once the head of the sick ward, but the entire night and Chelsea’s own near-death was caused by an accident on his part. Marshal seemed to know some stuff about medical knowledge, but Chelsea still couldn’t figure him out.

    Chelsea chuckled, which immediately turned into a sharp pain on her ribs. “So you guys decided for me that I’m staying here?”

    Elizabeth nodded. “You do know some of our deeper secrets, we can’t just let you go away with that knowledge. I’m kidding, you’re staying here because we know you have no place to go and you got hurt because of us. It’s the least we can do.”

    [Ask Elizabeth to stay]
    [Ask Joseph to stay]
    [Ask Marshal to stay]
    [Encourage them all to go]

  • [Accuse Filip]
    I'm going with this one for now, but I'm not sure exactly what Eris is accusing anybody of. This first vote seems unclear to me, and I might change my vote in the future. Can you explain what she is accusing one of these people of doing?
    [Ask Joseph to stay]
    He has the most medical experience, and they need Marshal to help run the diner.

    3.9 The group agreed to start at the diner the next day, partially in fear of Isaac’s response if they didn’t and partially in fear of bein

  • edited January 2018

    [Accuse Ethan]
    [Ask Elizabeth to stay] While I think that Chelsea would really just prefer them all to go, I feel like she could get a better insight into the answer's she's looking for if Elizabeth stays. Besides, all of these people are strangers to her, the only one whom she's at least familiarized with is Elizabeth herself.

  • Can you explain what she is accusing one of these people of doing?

    Sure can. The woman Marshal mentioned was Luke’s partner. During their attempt to get Eris away from her and Luke, someone killed her. In this choice, you’re choosing who to accuse of doing it.

    [Accuse Filip] I'm going with this one for now, but I'm not sure exactly what Eris is accusing anybody of. This first vote seems unclear to

  • While I think that Chelsea would really just prefer them all to go, I feel like she could get a better insight into the answer's she's looking for if Elizabeth stays.

    As much as she would like them to go, she’s not really in any condition to turn down their help. Asking someone to stay will give Chelsea a whole new insight on quite a number of situations.

    [Accuse Ethan] [Ask Elizabeth to stay] While I think that Chelsea would really just prefer them all to go, I feel like she could get a bett

  • [Accuse Marie]

    [Ask Joseph to stay]

    That was quite a long part. I liked it.

    3.9 The group agreed to start at the diner the next day, partially in fear of Isaac’s response if they didn’t and partially in fear of bein

  • First of all, correct me if I'm wrong, but this was probably the longest part in the story, eh? At least it felt like it, due to the four lengthy PoV's. Particularly Chelsea's part has been simply huge and that is amazing, because it is also my favourite part out of the 4 here. I particularly liked the interaction between Elizabeth and Chelsea throughout the part, but really, in general Chelsea had the best material here. That short talk with her mother was pretty sweet as well.

    [Accuse Ethan]

    You know, I really find choices like that terribly hard to make D: I was actually leaning a little bit into Milo's direction here, for no particular reason but some odd gut feeling, but I also feel like I gotta be the tiebreaker here. The thing is, this absolutely sounds like a choice that could mess up a lot of we choose wrong, so I cannot deny that being the tiebreaker here makes me a bit nervous.

    [Ask Elizabeth to stay]

    I am really not sure if I have to be the tiebreaker as well here. Man, I hope not XD Thing is, I agree with Javier's reasoning quite well here, Elizabeth is the one she knows the best, so I kinda feel like she'd be the logical pick. Also, well, I enjoyed their talk, as I said above, so I'd like more of that.

    3.9 The group agreed to start at the diner the next day, partially in fear of Isaac’s response if they didn’t and partially in fear of bein

  • First of all, correct me if I'm wrong, but this was probably the longest part in the story, eh? At least it felt like it, due to the four lengthy PoV's.

    It is the longest part yet, followed by the latest finale. With all that’s going on, there’s going to be longer parts and finales are going to be something else.

    I particularly liked the interaction between Elizabeth and Chelsea throughout the part, but really, in general Chelsea had the best material here. That short talk with her mother was pretty sweet as well.

    Regardless of what happens to the Voyagers in the city, Chelsea’s working her way to being a main character. Her relationship with Elizabeth is dependent on three major choices, one of which has already been made. Chelsea is a really interesting character, she’s got a big story to tell, and she’s going to open up a whole new arc that’s solely hers in the next chapter.

    The thing is, this absolutely sounds like a choice that could mess up a lot of we choose wrong

    The direct results of this choice are going to be addressed in the finale, but the choice itself has the potential to break up some allied relationships. This part alone tells that the Voyagers in the city have spent at least five months in the city, the next part will catch up with the rest of the group. The culprit will be revealed in due time, though.

    Elizabeth is the one she knows the best, so I kinda feel like she'd be the logical pick. Also, well, I enjoyed their talk, as I said above, so I'd like more of that.

    All the characters offered have something completely different to offer Chelsea. It’s likely Elizabeth will offer some answers she wants, but Joseph and Marshal both have different answers and questions for Chelsea. Really, no matter how much Chelsea wants to be alone, it’s safer for her to have someone around to watch her and give her answers.

    First of all, correct me if I'm wrong, but this was probably the longest part in the story, eh? At least it felt like it, due to the four le

  • (!) Voting is closed!

    Eris will accuse Ethan of murdering Mallory.

    So I really have no indication that this was going to turn into a whodunnit, but that’s only because I didn’t mean for it to. I’m not going to confirm the culprit just yet, but I can say that there are scattered hints on who the culprit is. Oh, and that this is going to effect Ethan’s relationship with the entire group on a huge scale.

    Chelsea will ask Joseph to stay.

    Now that was a tie, but the wheel is fighting for good. Chelsea’s going to be able to talk to the others but it won’t be for the same amount of time. As I told Liquid, they all have different answers to offer and as mentioned way back in chapter one, some characters are more willing to talk about their personal lives. Joseph is not one of them.

    The next part will catch up with the rest of the Voyagers and bring them to the current timeline, which is about five months in the future. I’m not entirely sure when it’ll be released, as I’ve been sick and I’m behind on voting for other stories, but I’m going to try for later today.

  • edited January 2018

    3.10

    After Joseph, Eris, and Ethan had disappeared, Marie began leading the rest of the group to their destination.

    Everyone else seemed shaken up by how quickly it all happened, but Marie treated it as if it was just a bump in the road.

    Nobody spoke in fear of someone following the group, but they all kept close to each other in order to keep an eye on everyone around.

    Upon arrival, Pierre looked over the remaining members with disapproval on his face. “Three are missing, where are they?”

    Marie shared the same look of disapproval. “Ethan gave himself away, Joseph separated early on, and Eris got grabbed.”

    Alyssa looked over the faces around her, seeing guilt in Filip, shock in Cyrus, and pure anger in Milo. Kyle remained neutral. Lecia had split up from the group a few minutes before their arrival, much to the dismay of the group. “And Lecia? Where is she?”

    “She left without telling us where she was going.”

    Pierre sighed before crossing his arms. “I’ll get word out to Rocco and have him bring his people here. You and I will stay as long as we’re needed.”

    The mood of the group rapidly switched, causing Alyssa to start whispering to Milo. “Who is Rocco?”

    “He’s in charge of the main base. The Voyagers are a branch in the resistance, but Rocco’s in charge of the tree.” Alyssa could tell that Milo was now trying to hide his anger, but he wasn’t doing a good job at it. “Elizabeth and Lecia hated him.”

    Looking past Milo, Alyssa locked eyes with a nervous Filip. He seemed to be thinking about something before he looked away from her, his attitude now backing up Milo’s anger. “We had a conversation about this back at the bunker. If Joseph and Elizabeth are gone, which they are, Cyrus is in charge. We don’t need Rocco and we don’t need you.”

    Pierre gave off an amused look before getting face to face with Filip. “Sounds to me like you’re talking for yourself. If you don’t like the plans I’m making to help this group then you can leave, got it?”

    Cyrus shoved Pierre back, putting himself between the two of them. “Nobody’s leaving the group. You and Marie can go home, we can handle our own.”

    “Apparently you can’t. Six of your members are missing, that makes you a group of five.” Marie chimed in. “That’s no way for a group to be run.”

    Alyssa caught a glare Milo sent Marie, then looked back to Pierre and Cyrus. “I think this getting a little out of hand.” Kyle spoke up from the side.

    “Agreed.” Alyssa finally spoke, trying to keep the peace between the group. “We just need to take a step back and breathe a little. It’s a stressful situation, but we can make it through if we work together.”

    Pierre scoffed. “You two have no say in this. Your pasts speak for you.”

    Alyssa saw Milo’s face turn red for a moment before he took a breath. Marie put her hands on her hips. “By this time tomorrow, Rocco will be here and he’ll have some people of his own. You-“

    Milo quickly cut her off. “Stay out of this Marie, you’re not going to be one of the people dealing with Rocco.”

    Cyrus put an arm in front of Pierre to stop him from moving when he turned to go confront Milo. “Do not talk to her like that. We’re trying to help you guys, whether you believe us or not.”

    “Then don’t talk to Alyssa the way you did.” She could see that Milo was getting tired of Pierre being around, much like the rest of the group. Kyle seemed to withdraw from the conversation after Pierre’s comment. “Get Rocco if you want, but know that you’ll be severing any involvement with us and the people that are missing.”

    “Rocco’s not welcomed here, his people aren’t welcomed here, and neither of you will be if you bring him here.” Filip spoke up from behind Cyrus.

    The group had set their stuff up in the motel, which seemed a lot bigger than the bunker, but Pierre said it was perfect for the five of them and the people Rocco would be bringing.

    Pierre and Marie left that afternoon and returned the next day with seven people in tow.

    They had met up in one of the extra rooms to discuss their plan whenever Rocco arrived as well as their plans in regards to the missing members. “They’ll have better odds with six of them around.”

    Milo shrugged. “Lecia separated from us hours after they disappeared, I don’t think she went after them.”

    “You mentioned that Elizabeth and Lecia didn’t like Rocco. Maybe Lecia saw this coming and she didn’t want to deal with Rocco on her own.” Alyssa added from across the room.

    Filip sat between Alyssa and Cyrus while Kyle separated Cyrus and Milo. “She wouldn’t have been dealing with it alone, though. Nobody here likes Rocco. He’s manipulative, perverse, and corrupt.”

    “He harassed Elizabeth and Lecia because they were single and close to his type.” Milo sounded spiteful. “He’s the one person who broke Elizabeth down with his actions and for that, I can’t forgive him and I can’t trust him.”

    Kyle looked lost in thought for a moment. “We need Lecia back.” The rest of the group turned back to him with questioning looks. “Milo knows Elizabeth’s capabilities, I know Marshal’s, but none of us were close enough to know Eris or Joseph’s. Nobody except Lecia knows what they can handle.”

    “I get what you’re saying.” Filip crossed his arms, leaning against the wall. “There’s no doubt they’re being heavily guarded, their chances at coming back are dependent on their capabilities. We can’t say anything for certain if we don’t know their capabilities or Ethan’s.”

    Alyssa looked like she was hesitating in saying something. She looked up and met Milo’s eyes. He mouthed something to her. ‘Say whatever’s on your mind.

    She nodded and cleared her throat. “Ethan’s capable of more than you guys think. His records gave a little bit of information on a scuffle he got in quite a while ago. That, and he turned against the organization without being forced to. He’s not too bad off.”

    The others started talking over each other. Alyssa looked over to Milo and received a nod with a smile on his face as he mouthed something else. ‘Nice job.

    She returned the nod and listened to what she could pick up from the others.

    Their conversation had gotten nowhere by the time they left for lunch. That was when they ran into Rocco.

    Rocco was a thin man, but he was tall. He had red hair, similar to Alyssa’s, but his eyes were blue.

    Upon Rocco’s people seeing the group, they immediately tensed up. Milo took a stand in front of Alyssa, putting a barrier between them. Cyrus joined him while Filip and Kyle stayed their distance.

    They stood in a harsh silence until Rocco forced a smile on his face. “It’s been a while and I’m real sorry about your people, but if we’re going to start doing things right then we can’t waste time.” His people lightened up, but Alyssa noticed the others on tensed up even more. “For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Rocco. I’m going to be your new leader. One of my best qualities is my headstrong determination. I am going to fight for your people until I die, but that means that I’m going to need an equal amount of your determination and willpower.” He looked over to Milo and his smile faded once he saw Milo’s face. “Something wrong, Junior?”

    “Don’t call me that.” Milo immediately responded, refusing to answer his question.

    Rocco started taking steps closer to Milo, only stopping once he saw Alyssa. “I don’t believe I’ve met you yet. You got a name?”

    Alyssa saw Milo’s anger fade into something else. Something close to hopelessness. “Alyssa Kowalska.”

    Rocco’s eyes lit up and his smile came back. “Pierre told me all about you.” He raised his voice to speak to both groups. “Francine will be making our meals for the day. For now, spend some time getting closer to each other because these people are part of our family now. Dismissed.” He lowered his voice to a whisper that only Alyssa, and likely Milo, could hear. “I’d love to get to know you better over lunch.”

    Milo attempted to move forward with fists clenched until Alyssa and Cyrus grabbed him, holding him back. He noticed Milo and an arrogant smirk came over his face.

    Five months later - September

    Rocco had reassigned everyone in the group not long after he took control. Pierre and Marie left about two months earlier, having put their full trust in Rocco.

    The five months were difficult for the group. None of the missing had returned or been found, which led the group to believe they had died.

    Rocco felt no remorse for the suspected deaths and told the remainder that they had no reason to mourn. He continued to push that they were now his family, much to Milo’s dismay.

    Alyssa spent most of her time in her room unless she was needed, as did the others. They got together every single day at nine in the night to make sure they were all holding up well enough and keeping away from Rocco’s eyes.

    Their meetings took place in a different room each night to keep from being tracked. As the time went on, it was clear that they were losing hope quickly. The scouts went out often to see if they could find any answers on where the missing members may have gone, but their ties to the city often prevented them from venturing too far into it.

    Milo would often stop by before the meeting just to see how Alyssa was doing on her own and make sure she was comfortable.

    Alyssa knew he was only trying to keep himself distracted from the idea that his sister had died. She didn’t blame him, though. In the time she knew him, she knew he wanted nothing more than to see his sister again. He worked to his best ability for two years until he could finally go home, only to spend maybe a few hours with her before she was put into critical condition.

    They would often hang out in the room, neither of them usually felt the need to talk. “Milo, I’ve got a question for you.” She noticed a sour look cross his faces before she chuckled. “Why did you make that face?”

    “As a doctor, it’s your job to ask invasive questions about your patient’s habits and body, I think you see my problem.”

    “No, I don’t see a problem.” She saw Milo’s eyes light up for the first time in months. For once he was genuinely happy. “I wanted to know why Rocco calls you Junior. You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”

    His happiness was replaced with nervousness as he seemed to be motivating himself. “Rocco always had this weird relationship with Elizabeth and I. When we were younger, he tried to play a fatherly role for us, but things got weird after Elizabeth turned nineteen. He started hitting on her and no matter how many times she turned him down, he’d always be right back at it in a matter of seconds. There was one day she ended up just bawling because of how badly it bothered her. Joseph wanted to talk about it, but Marshal, Filip, Cyrus, and I were already ready to knock him out, it was just a matter of who saw him first. Joseph met up with him for a talk and Marshal found out.” Milo chuckled, a smile now fixed on his face. “Instead of letting Joseph work it out, he told Joseph he would talk with Rocco. Joseph actually believed it and left them alone for just one minute. He mentioned it to me earlier and I showed up a few minutes later to back him up, but he sure didn’t need it. Rocco will mess with the rest of us, but at the mere mention of Marshal, you can catch him tensing up.”

    A smirk was fixed on Alyssa’s face. “Do you think he’d be afraid of Kyle if he knew he was Marshal’s dad?”

    “Probably not. Kyle’s more easy going than Marshal ever was, plus he’s a lot older now than Marshal was at the time.” Alyssa could see that telling the story made Milo happier. “I think if he wanted to, Kyle could take any of us. We should be thankful he hasn’t yet.”

    Alyssa scoffed. “Yeah, I’m sure.”

    The two sat in silence for a few seconds before Alyssa felt like she was being studied. “Is there something else on your mind? You can talk with me about it.”

    She sighed, looking to the ground. “Do you really believe Elizabeth is dead?”

    “No.” Without a second of hesitation, Milo sounded confident in his answer. “She was hurt, but the tapes showed that Marshal kept bringing attention to himself to keep her out of trouble. He got hit plenty of times before they left the final camera’s view and I know he only did it for her. They’re both smart enough to know their boundaries and if conforming to whatever Luke tells them means they get to live just one more day, they would do it.”

    “You were with Eris when she got grabbed. What happened back there?”

    He frowned, almost as if he knew the question was coming. “I realized Joseph was gone when it was too late and I tried to get Kyle and Eris to speed up. She got grabbed and when she did, she grabbed me. I pulled on her and told Kyle to go get someone, then Filip started helping me when a second person showed up. I’m not really sure what all happened, but a gunshot went off and the second person that was pulling on Eris just hit the ground. We didn’t have time to recover before she got dragged off. Ethan was really upset about the body and Filip said it would only be right to give the body to her partner, so that’s what they did.”

    “Why do you think Lecia left?”

    “I think you were right. I think she knew this was coming and she didn’t want to be around for it.” He crossed his arms and sunk into his chair. “Lecia was another one that Rocco kept an eye on. He was manipulative towards Morgan, which is another thing that upset all of the scouts. He would try to convince Morgan that she needed a dad and that her mom was lonely because he knew that Morgan was young enough to believe whatever he had to say. Lecia freaked out on Morgan whenever she brought up the idea and I really believe she would get embarrassed whenever he flirted with her. They all took it a different way.”

    It was something about the last thing that Milo said that made her realize that there was no short-term to Rocco’s control. “Do you think our little meetups are preventing him from doing anything?”

    “No, I think they’re delaying something, but not preventing something.” He seemed hesitant to bring something up. “I noticed Rocco disappears after our meetings. I did a little snooping last night and he wasn’t in his room.”

    Alyssa put her hands on a box in front of the wall, clearly hesitating to move it. “He’s not in there right now either. Otherwise, we’d be in trouble.”

    She moved the box reveal a hole that had been drilled in the wall from the other side. When he realized what it was, Milo jumped out of his seat. “I knew he was going to do something like that.” He started pacing. “Alyssa, you’re not safe here, especially not in this room. He’s targeting you because you’re the only woman left from the group and you hold a pretty high position. He knows that if he can earn your trust then the rest of us will just fall in line.”

    Before Alyssa could respond, there was a knock at the door that grabbed their attention. She backed away from the door and let Milo get it. He opened the door to Rocco himself. “Junior, I didn’t know you’d be around here. What’s your reasoning?”

    “I don’t need to explain anything to you considering you don’t even know my name.”

    Rocco put a hand on Milo’s shoulder and gave it a rough squeeze. “You don’t need to be so hostile now, nobody needs protecting. You're all part of our family and no attitude is going to change that.” Milo swatted Rocco’s hand away, turning to shut the door. Rocco stopped the door with his foot and welcomed himself in. “It’s very rude to ignore a guest, ma’am.”

    Alyssa noticed Milo slide the box back into place to avoid getting her in trouble. “My apologies, what do you need?”

    “To talk about this rift that’s between my people and your little clique. There shouldn’t be a rift this far along and with one remaining, that’s a problem.” He motioned to Milo. “People like that one are ready to leap into a fight whenever the option presents itself and that’s not going to work in my home.”

    “That one is right here and can hear you clearly.” Milo commented, a bitter look on his face.

    Rocco nodded, putting out a hand to separate him from Milo, almost as if his hand was a wall that kept him from even acknowledging Milo. “Anyway, this isn’t going to work. You need to convince your friends that they need to straighten up soon, otherwise you’ll all need to leave.” He turned with a smug smile on his face. “And it’d be a shame to lose such a pretty lady because she doesn’t know how to act.”

    Alyssa watched Milo struggle to hold himself back. He waited until Rocco was gone before he said anything. “We need to leave. He’s giving us an ultimatum, we need to get out of here and find whoever we can.”

    “How did you guys get away from him before?”

    “We left. We were all stationed at the main base so we split up after we realized that he was a problem.” Milo seemed to be ashamed of his answer. “After we split, Pierre said we could stay separated if we had a leader so Joseph offered himself. We were just barely making it by with eight members.”

    “We’ll bring it up at the meeting.”

    The two stuck around each other until the meeting. It was clear Rocco had attempted to talk to Cyrus and Kyle, but he likely wasn’t able to place Filip most of the day. “We need to do something about him.”

    “I think it’s about time we leave. We can’t wait for things to get out of hand this time, we need to take action first.” Filip was fully onboard to leave, just as Milo was.

    “If Lecia’s still out there, we can find her if we all work on it. Filip made great progress, but he can’t do it all on his own.” Alyssa couldn’t make out Kyle’s position based on his comment.

    Cyrus looked a little hesitant. “If we leave again, we’re just giving him what he wants. We’re not sure if Lecia is out there. She would have come back after some time since she knew where we were going.”

    Kyle looked a bit down before speaking again. “You’re probably right. Are you suggesting we stay here and show Rocco that he can’t get rid of us that easily?”

    “He’s waiting for us to give up again and he’s using any means he can to get us to quit. I know for a fact he’s using Alyssa to get to Milo, he’s making up lies about the people who are missing to get to Kyle, and he’s beating Filip up about his past with the organization.” Cyrus gave a grim glare to Alyssa before he sighed. “If Elizabeth and Lecia taught him anything, it’s that if you pressure someone long and hard enough, they’ll break.”

    “Is that a threat?”

    “Not from me.” Cyrus frowned. “Tomorrow we can put the issue to a vote after we all think reasonably on it.”

    Another short meeting to keep from gathering attention.

    After they dismissed, Filip walked Alyssa to her room since he was in the next room. “He hasn’t done anything weird to you, has he?”

    “Besides drilling a hole in the wall, no, he hasn’t.”

    “He drilled a hole in the wall?” Filip seemed shocked by the statement as if he knew Rocco to not do things like it, but Milo and Cyrus could attest to the fact that he would have done something similar before. “Are you sure you want to go back in there?”

    Alyssa scoffed. “Where else would I go?”

    “You could stay with any of us. In fact, I think you staying with someone else would calm Milo down a bit. His main problem is that your room is next to Rocco’s.” Filip stopped walking and lowered his voice to a whisper. “Stay quiet, he’s out.”

    The two went upstairs in silence. They passed Rocco who gave a glare to Alyssa. Filip stood with Alyssa for a few moments before turning to go to his own room. It was only after he went to leave that Rocco grabbed Alyssa’s arm. “Excuse me, I need a word alone with you.”

    “Let go of me.” Alyssa gave the direct command before she attempted to pull away.

    She saw Rocco’s eyes look back up before he quickly let go of her, suddenly taking a defensive stand. “She told you to let her go, so why’d you keep your hands on her?”

    Alyssa moved out of the way as Filip stormed past her to confront Rocco. “Filip, wait a minute.”

    “Lay your hands on her again and we’re going to have a problem, got it?” Filip had all of his attention focused on Rocco, he hadn’t even heard Alyssa try to stop him.

    “You’re a real wild card, Filip.” Rocco snickered. “I’m not sure if you’ll get your buddies from the organization or you’ll stab me.”

    That was it. In a split second, Filip grabbed Rocco by the neck and held on tight. “I’m not going to tell you again, keep whatever snide comments you have and your hands to yourself. You’re supposed to be proving to us that you can lead, but the only thing you’re giving me is one more reason to make sure you end up dead.” Filip released Rocco with a push and turned to Alyssa. “You’re not staying there tonight, go talk to Cyrus.”

    Alyssa moved past the two, quickly going to a room downstairs. She knocked and once the door opened, she heard a door upstairs slam.

    Cyrus looked a bit concerned, but Alyssa couldn’t place the reason. “What’s going on?”

    “Filip isn’t going to let me stay in my room tonight because of Rocco. I don’t understand why he told me to come talk to you, but I’m just following orders.”

    Cyrus allowed Alyssa in and seemed to be nervous. “He told you to come talk to me because he knows he did something that’s going to get him in major trouble. We all agreed that if something like that happened, I’d be the one to hear first and whoever got in trouble would be gone by morning.” He started gathering things from his room, putting them in his pockets. “You can stay here or you can alert the others, but I need to go help Filip.”

    Cyrus was out the door in a matter of seconds, leaving Alyssa to make the choice on her own.

    While she did want to let the others know, she had no idea where Rocco was and she didn’t want to run into him while she was alone. Kyle’s room was close, but Milo’s room was on the other side of the motel.

    [Alert the others]
    [Stay put]

  • [Alert the others]

    3.10 After Joseph, Eris, and Ethan had disappeared, Marie began leading the rest of the group to their destination. Everyone else seem

  • [Stay put]
    They will soon find out anyways. Alerting the others might cause even more tension between the Voyager's and Rocco's much larger group, if she is caught.

    3.10 After Joseph, Eris, and Ethan had disappeared, Marie began leading the rest of the group to their destination. Everyone else seem

  • [Stay put]

    For all we know about Rocco so far, he really doesn't sound like the kind of person I'd want Alyssa to run into. If alerting the others would be such a crucial task, I'd imagine Cyrus would do it himself or not leave it up to Alyssa to decide. As such, I think Cyrus on his own will be capable enough to assist Filip, at least I hope so and I think it'd be better if Alyssa keeps a bit of a low profile right now, because at worst she'd make things only harder for Filip, Cyrus and herself.

    3.10 After Joseph, Eris, and Ethan had disappeared, Marie began leading the rest of the group to their destination. Everyone else seem

  • (!) Voting is closed! Alyssa will stay in the room.

    This is a vote that I’ve had to keep my own responses under wraps, as the situation is a very tight knit one and if you pull a stitch, the whole blanket falls apart. I think that’s how the expression goes.

    The next part is due sometime late tonight or early tomorrow and it’s also the finale. As previously stated, this chapter has the most determinant characters and endings. Most alternate choices have already been worked out, but there's always room to adjust.

    Until later!

  • 3.11 - Chapter 3 Finale

    “Joseph, you’ve got an idea of what you’re doing in terms of medicine, right?” Chelsea noticed that most of the Voyagers were already preparing to leave.

    Chelsea moved to get up before a flash stopped her right in her tracks. She heard a voice familiar to her. “Chelsea, he’s going to kill both of us if you don’t drink it. Chelsea, look out!”

    A second voice, this one less familiar spoke. “If you fall in line with her, you’ll be a traitor to your own family.”

    When her vision fixed itself, she found herself on the ground. Eris was by her side, holding her up the best she could. “Thank you.” Chelsea picked herself up, keeping a hand out to keep her steady. Chelsea went through the apartment until she found who she was looking for. “Elizabeth, what did you say?”

    She looked a bit confused, but continued her focus on getting ready. “I didn’t say anything.”

    “You said somebody was going to kill us, what were you talking about?”

    She stopped what she was doing and gave off a nervous chuckle. “I seriously didn’t say anything, Chelsea, I’ve been here the whole time and the door was shut before you came in.”

    “Chelsea, you need to go rest.” Joseph spoke from the side. “You blacked out for a moment, so it’s possible you heard something she didn’t say.”

    “How can I hear something that wasn’t said?”

    He shrugged. “I’m not sure, but you were talking to me when I wasn’t even in the apartment, so it’s possible.”

    Chelsea went back to the loveseat, trying to ignore all to commotion around her until somebody leaned over the back of the couch. “Joseph’s going to stay with you today and we’re going to try our best to cover for you when it comes to your own job. You’re in no condition to go anywhere and believe me when I say that Joseph isn’t going to let you go anywhere until you can prove to him that you can handle it.”

    “Thank you.” Chelsea sighed. “I don’t think I could have ever expected such kindness from a group that’s known to be an enemy.”

    The flash came back, along with the second voice from earlier. “You draw a line and they’ll cross it. They’re not human.” It was a man’s voice. It sounded familiar, yet distant. As soon as the sight arrived, it was gone.

    Chelsea looked around the apartment to find that most of the group was gone and only Joseph remained. “What time is it?”

    He looked at his watch. “Half past six. If you’re rested enough, I have some questions for you.”

    “Sure, go ahead.” Chelsea didn’t know what types of questions to expect from him, as the two of them hadn’t spoken much the night before.

    “You’ve blacked out at least twice now. What do you see when you go out?”

    Chelsea frowned slightly. “I don’t see anything, but I hear things. The first time I heard Elizabeth talking to me, which you and her both said she didn’t, and the second time I heard a man that I think I know. Elizabeth was pleading to me and the man told me that I shouldn’t get too close to you guys because you’re not human.”

    “We are human, trust me on that.” Joseph crossed his arms. “Before that, when you started slipping, you were responding to something but it wasn’t us, what was going on?”

    As much as Chelsea wanted to keep it private, she knew he was just trying to help and she wanted an answer herself. “My mom. She passed a while back and when I collapsed, I was in a place I’d never seen before, but I was at ease. She kept telling me that I needed to go back and that I couldn’t stay there because you guys were trying to bring me back.”

    The answer seemed to shock Joseph, who regained himself in a quick moment. “Have you had any of those experiences before you got injected?”

    She thought for a moment. “Earlier last night. I was talk with Marshal about Elizabeth’s dad and I felt like I was leaving my body. I couldn’t see anything and my mind was going numb.”

    He unfolded his arms. “I think something’s going on with you. I’m not going to lie to you, it could get pretty bad if you don’t figure out what it is soon.”

    “I thought you would-” Chelsea stopped talking as her vision faded once again.

    She could barely make out what looked to be an office. She heard a man yelling. “Your job is to kill these people, Joseph! You’re wasting our time and resources by keeping them around!” She placed the voice immediately. It was her father.

    She was quickly brought back to her own body with a theory in mind. “You’re going to think I’m crazy, but I think I’ve got an ability.”

    He nods, but looks as if he was curious as to what she was talking about. “I do think you’re crazy, but go on.”

    “Give me something that went on when I wasn’t around. Something to think about and I’ll prove it to you, but you might have to phrase it as a question.”

    He thought for a moment before looking to address her. “Before the others left and while you were out, Eris was lecturing Ethan over something, what was it?”

    What would Eris lecture Ethan over?

    As she asked herself the question, the apartment around her faded to be replaced by the kitchen. “You need to step up every once in a while, otherwise we’re all done for. I don’t think you understand the position that only one person’s neglect could put us all in.”

    She was back on the couch again. “She was upset because he doesn’t step up, her exact words.”

    While he seemed a little impressed he still seemed skeptical. “One of our own was killed by an Onyx Organization member five years ago.” He leaned forward. “What happened with the culprit?”

    She didn’t get a moment to think on the question herself before she was forced out of the apartment and to a different scene. She was in a concrete room now. “I think I’m the one who killed Jonas, but I don’t have any memory of it.”

    Instead of going back to the apartment, the room started getting dark. Light from another room drew her closer to the room. She looked inside to see two men she didn’t know. “I have a question for you, though. Did you know that I was an agent before this?”

    The room faded as she found herself back on the couch. “He wasn’t just any member, he was an agent. You guys took him in.”

    He chuckled. “He was around us for nearly three years before I found that out myself, so I’m impressed.” The small hint of a smile he had faded and his face took a grim tone. “You’ve got the past, but now I can’t help but be a little worried about what you heard earlier today.”

    “Trust me, I am too, but I don’t know if I can look over the events of the future. Even if I can, how sure can I be that it’s accurate?”

    He shrugged. “It probably won’t be accurate after you’ve seen it because you’re going to try and change some events.”

    “I suppose you’re right.” A mischievous grin came across Chelsea’s face. “But that’s all the more reason to find out what’s going to happen with the others today.”

    Chelsea closed her eyes and focused on the silence, trying to build a connection with the diner.

    A scene quickly greeted her eyes once they opened. It was the diner. Ethan stood face to face with someone from the organization, neither of them backing down. Eris was nearby, trying to talk Ethan down. Elizabeth and Marshal were directly behind Ethan, telling him that ‘she’ was okay and he could back down.

    The floor surrounding the two was coated in glass and a liquid that Chelsea couldn’t tell. Chelsea looked to the clock on the far wall: 7:21.

    Elizabeth must have decided that trying to break through to Ethan was worthless and tried to speak to the Organization member. In a flash, he pulled out a gun, quickly taking aim at her.

    Marshal pulled Elizabeth out of the way and Ethan tackled the man, the two of them wrestling for the gun.

    As Ethan knocks the gun out of his hands, he retaliated by knocking Ethan’s head against a nearby table, rendering him unconscious.

    Chelsea could see the fear on Eris’s face. She wanted to step in and stop the situation, but she couldn’t.

    The man got off the ground and brushed his clothes off, heading into the kitchen. Marshal moved to check on Ethan, but was quickly pulled back whenever the man returned with a butcher knife in hand.

    Before Ethan could regain consciousness, the man positioned himself above him.

    Just as the knife was slammed down onto Ethan’s hand, Chelsea was pulled back into reality.

    Joseph had left his seat, a panicked look on his face. “What did you see?”

    Chelsea looked down to her hands, seeing they had gone pale, most likely as the rest of her body. “We need to go to the diner, right now. Ethan’s going to be in major trouble if we can’t stop it.”

    Joseph seemed to have a mixed thought on it. “What trouble?”

    “Trouble as in somebody’s going to cut off his hand because he didn’t let them kill a pregnant woman.” Chelsea tried to keep the details as vague as possible, hoping that keeping the situation on minimal details would encourage Joseph to go. “The clock was at 7:21, so we don’t have much time.”

    He looked hesitant before helping Chelsea off the couch and grabbing the set of keys that belonged to her rental car from the nightstand. “This better be serious.”

    Despite moving for the both of them, Joseph moved quickly, obviously trying to get to the diner as quick as he could.

    The time on the car’s clock read 7:19 whenever they arrived.

    Going into the diner, Chelsea came to the realization that the scene was already being set up.

    Eris was sitting on the ground, the glass and liquid that Chelsea had seen surrounding her. Ethan was by her side, Elizabeth was closer to the kitchen, while Marshal was yet to be seen. “I’m fine, it was an accident, we’ll get it fixed up.”

    The man looked furious. “Might I remind you that your job is to take orders and deliver said orders. I do hope you don’t drop every order you get.”

    “Give her a break, your comments probably aren’t helping.” Ethan spoke. Chelsea looked over to see Elizabeth turn into the kitchen, quickly returning with Marshal. Ethan redirected his attention to Marshal the second he walked up. “He thinks he’s entitled to whatever he wants because he’s a member. He tripped Eris whenever she passed him by and now he’s mad at her for it.”

    The man got out of his seat and face to face with Ethan while Marshal helped Eris off the ground. “She says she’s okay, we don’t need to make a big deal out of this. We’re already on a thin line because we’re Voyagers and he’s trying to exploit that.”

    Eris moved to the side, taking her place in the scene Chelsea had seen.

    A chill went down her spine as she looked to the clock, seeing the time she had dreaded. 7:21. Everyone was in place and the scene was playing out. “It’s happening.” She whispered to Joseph, who was keeping an eye on the man.

    “It’s not going to go the way you saw.” He looked like he was preparing himself for something. “Not if I have any say in it.”

    “Your buddy over there is right. You people are in the lowest tier.” The man sounded real confident in himself. “All of you got caught, but you’re crazy to think I believe that any of you are reforming.” He scoffed when Ethan didn’t respond. “If I were the man in charge, I would have had you and the ones from before executed for being a waste of space.”

    “You wanna talk about the lowest tier? You just tripped a waitress who looks like she’s eighty pounds because you were unsatisfied.” Just as Chelsea had seen, Ethan was refusing to back down. “You keep thinking on if you were the man in charge, that’s never going to happen so keep on dreaming.”

    Chelsea looked to Elizabeth. “Ethan, she’s fine, it’s okay to stand down.” She sighed after silence greeted her, turning to the man. “Listen, we don’t want any problems and we don’t intend to make any problems.”

    She felt her heart sink as the man moved swiftly, grabbing his gun and raising it towards Elizabeth.

    It felt like it played out in slow motion. She knew it wasn’t going to end with Elizabeth getting hurt, but she also knew it was one step closer to Ethan getting hurt.

    The world caught up to Chelsea as Marshal moved Elizabeth out of the way and just as Chelsea remembered, Ethan tackled the man.

    The gun was tossed in Joseph’s direction, but he didn’t move to grab it.

    Ethan was on the ground in a few seconds and the man went to the kitchen, returning with the butcher knife.

    He positioned himself atop Ethan, getting ready to slice at his hand. “You’re going to regret messing with me.” There was pure hatred in his voice.

    That was when Chelsea saw Joseph take off from her side, quickly moving to apprehend the man. Marshal went to Joseph’s aid while Eris and Elizabeth went to help Ethan.

    Chelsea looked at the new scene unfolding before her. Joseph now knew about Elizabeth’s pregnancy, but Ethan got to keep his hand and his life. She breathed a breath of relief as Joseph and Marshal forced the man out.

    The gun had disappeared from where it last laid on the floor, despite Eris and Chelsea being the only two people nearby after Joseph left his position.

    Joseph returned before Marshal did, Chelsea pulling him to the side. “Why didn’t you grab the gun?”

    “Marshal and I are probably going to get Hell for laying our hands on him. It would have been a lot worse for all of us if I pulled the gun on him.” He was still nervous, Chelsea could tell.

    “But he drew on Elizabeth first, I’m sure it’d be justified.”

    “Maybe if she were any normal citizen, but that’s not the case.” He shrugged, trying to get rid of his nervousness. “It’s in the past now, nothing we can do about it now.”

    The door opened again, the man stumbling back into the diner, a mildly annoyed Marshal following behind him. “I told you it wasn’t in here. I’ve got no idea what happened to it, but you’re not welcomed back, I really wish you would leave, and I’ll be sure it gets back to you if I find it.”

    He shot a glare towards Marshal, quickly taking a defensive stance. “You expect me to believe that some lowlife Voyager is going to return a weapon instead of using it for themselves?”

    Marshal’s look of annoyance was replaced with a look of anger. “We’ve been here for five months, we’ve never tampered with anyone’s food, and we haven’t used anything as a weapon. We’ve been minding our own business, you should try it sometime.”

    Chelsea could tell by the look on Elizabeth’s face that if nobody stepped in, it would turn into a fight. “Sir, what’s your ID number?”

    The man looked to Chelsea, quickly placing his anger into her now. “And who are you to ask?”

    “Chelsea Hampton, now what’s your ID number? I’m not going to ask again.” Chelsea looked over to Marshal and noticed he seemed to lighten up a little once she stepped in, but he was still watching over the man.

    The man seemed to hesitate before a look of defeat crossed his face. “7-0-2-6.”

    “You should expect your superiors to hear of your behavior today. I’ll also personally see to it that you face proper consequences.” Chelsea folded her arms. “He said he would keep an eye out for your gun so leave these people alone already.”

    The man left without a word, a smile quickly crossing Marshal’s face. “Impressive. I didn’t know you could get mean like that.”

    Chelsea unfolded her arms, a smile fixing on her own face. “What’s the plan for the rest of the day after that ordeal?”

    “Truthfully, I’m not sure. We’ve never had a situation even remotely similar and I can tell that Eris is pretty freaked out about it. Ethan’s probably not going to be up for bussing tables with the headache he’s bound to have when he wakes up, and Elizabeth is pretty tired, so we’ll probably just go home.”

    “For someone who just said he’s not sure, you seem to have it worked out.” A small hint of guilt came over Chelsea before she sighed. “I should apologize to you.”

    “I think as one of the two who fractured your ribs, I should have already apologized.” Chelsea patted her side lightly, giving a quick thanks to her adrenaline that kept her from feeling the pain. “But why should you apologize?”

    Chelsea tried to think of a way to phrase it that wouldn’t lead to the same situation they were in. “I accidentally told Joseph about the baby.”

    Chelsea expected him to be upset or leave the conversation as he had done the night before, but he simply laughed it off. “You did me a favor. Elizabeth said I’d have to tell them since she’s bad with those kinds of things, but between you and I, I’m even worse with them. With luck, Joseph will tell Eris and she’ll tell Ethan.”

    She took a glance over the diner, noticing Elizabeth and Eris had gotten Ethan back on his feet while Joseph cleaned up the mess that was made. “Did you take the gun on the floor?”

    Before he could answer, Chelsea made it a point to study him. “In all honesty, I was going to after we threw him out, but it was gone when we went to throw him out. It wasn’t me, but whoever did it had to have moved pretty fast.”

    Chelsea nodded slightly. “When do you think it happened?”

    “Probably when Joseph went to help Ethan. Everyone’s focus was on Joseph, so it gave whoever did it a moment to do it.” Chelsea noticed he was delivering his answers as honest as he could.

    “Who do you think did it?”

    Unlike the other answers, she got immediate silence in return. She looked over and noticed he seemed a little nervous now. “Don’t know.”

    Chelsea narrowed her eyes. He either knew who did it or had done it himself. “I can tell you’re lying to me based on that answer and your past answers.”

    He gave a half-hearted smile before patting down his pockets as if to prove he didn’t have it. “And you’ll understand why when you figure it who has it.”

    “My dad is going to be upset with me just being around you guys, at least give me a hint so I can say that I’m working on my own.”

    The two shared a look before he sighed, a mixture of sadness and guilt crossing his face. “I feel like my last answer was enough of a hint, but fine. None of the men in the Voyagers can move as quick as required to take the gun without being noticed.”

    Chelsea thought back to Eris and Elizabeth’s positions when Joseph took off. Eris was closest, but Chelsea couldn’t believe that she would take it. Elizabeth did seem like a more likely suspect, but she would have had to go under table to go past the scene and to the gun.

    The diner faded and the scene quickly restarted. Chelsea made it a point to watch both of the women to the best of her ability. She saw Eris look over towards her before she ran to the gun, took it, and went back to her position.

    She took a deep breath and opened her eyes to the present. “Eris. She’s not going to use it, is she?”

    “No.” Chelsea looked to Marshal to see pure guilt on his face. “Joseph and I are the only ones who actually know how to handle a gun and she’s more likely to pass it off to me rather than him. There’s always the chance she gives it to Ethan, but I’m not letting that happen.”

    Chelsea picked up a hint of anger in his voice. “What did Ethan do?”

    “Let’s just say he’s been accused of his fair share of wrongdoings and I’m not too excited to have him around.” He crossed his arms. “But innocent until proven guilty, I guess.”

    “You wouldn’t use the gun, would you?”

    The question threw him off, but he seemed a bit relieved that Chelsea didn’t push for information on Ethan. “Depends on if I’m talking to my wife’s friend or Isaac Hampton’s daughter.” He paused for a moment. “Not unless I have to. It’s no secret that a few of us, myself, Joseph, and Elizabeth included, have killed to protect other people. It’s part of our alliance that we do what we have to do to survive. Do with that what you will.”

    The answer was meant to confuse Chelsea while putting a clear division between the two of them. “Your scare tactics aren’t going to work on me. The only person here that’s innocent of murder is Eris. I know the details of what the rest of you have done and it’s always on my mind but don’t misunderstand, I know it’s human nature to survive by any means, especially when you’re the public enemy.”

    “You know, I don’t see you as a threat just yet and I truly hope that I don’t have to see you as a threat.” He looked towards Elizabeth. “I have absolutely no idea why she trusts you as much as she does, considering you’ve only personally known each other for one night, but she already holds you to pretty high standards. Believe it or not, she’s nicer to you than she ever was to Joseph, her leader. I know you’re bound to struggle between loyalty to your father and a friendship to her, I just ask that you make choices that’ll benefit everybody, your father included.”

    As much as she wanted to ask where this was coming from, she already knew he was just trying to look out for the group. “I think she knows more about me than she’s letting on. She knew about Luke and I, which is the entire reason I came home. Though, I think I know just as much about her.”

    “Luke?” He sounded shocked and a little afraid. “As in Luke Lowell?”

    “Do you know him?”

    He scoffed. “That’s putting it lightly. He’s in charge of Underworld Activity and that’s something he takes real seriously. Elizabeth was in stitches when we got caught, so a few carefully selected words made me his latest punching bag, another task he didn’t take lightly. He apparently went easy on the others, so I feel like I must have done something way earlier to upset him, which isn’t unlikely.”

    Chelsea felt a frown on her face. There must have been a mistake, that’s not the Luke she knew. Their conversation was cut once the others joined in, not giving her the chance to talk more about it.

    Marshal told the others the plan for the rest of the day before they left the diner. Elizabeth stopped Chelsea before they had left the diner, giving the two of them a moment alone. “There’s a place I want to show you. I was thinking about it and I know where Luke usually hangs out every Saturday. It’s a lengthy walk, but it might give you some more answers.”

    “Let’s do it.” Chelsea answered without hesitation. They left the diner. “Joseph, here, I’m trusting you with this.” Once she got his attention, she tossed him the keys to the rental car. “Elizabeth and I are taking a walk.”

    The two split off from the group, heading the opposite way.

    Chelsea noticed Elizabeth seemed quiet for most of the walk until she gave a soft smile. “I don’t know how you convinced Joseph to bring you down to the diner, but I’m glad you guys showed up when you did.”

    “I felt like I needed to get out, you know?”

    She nodded. “I understand that all too well. I knew the feeling back at the bunker. It was the same small place with the same people every single day and I really couldn’t handle it most days.”

    Chelsea thought back to the diner and couldn’t help but chuckle. “You and Marshal didn’t seem too phased at having a gun pointed directly at you, why is that?”

    “He was clearly bluffing. He wasn’t going to do anything to me, he just wanted to scare me.” A smirk crossed Elizabeth. “That, and I am an expert target.”

    They ended up ducking into an alley bar. It was clear Elizabeth didn’t want to be there, but she wasn’t going to leave Chelsea alone there. “This is the place.”

    She looked over it, quickly noticing the scantily clad women strolling through the place. “Is there a dress code here?”

    “That’s the dress code for their line of work.” As another woman strolled closer to them, Elizabeth got closer to Chelsea. “It’s best to not say anything, though. They know they’re not doing well for themselves, it’s why they do what they do.”

    Elizabeth moved along before Chelsea could respond, knowing Chelsea would follow her. “And this is where he hangs out?”

    “Only on Saturday.” She froze, looking around. “But it’s apparently too early for him.”

    As they turned around, they found a man towering above them. “Is there a reason you two are here? I would know if either of you two were one of the ladies.”

    Elizabeth was only a little taller than Chelsea but it was clear even she had been intimidated by the man’s height. “We were just here looking for a friend. He’s not here so we’ll be on our way, pleasure meeting you and have a nice day.”

    The two tried to walk past him, only for him to move into their way. “Not so soon, ladies. What are your names?”

    Chelsea looked to Elizabeth, realizing she would have to answer first. “Chelsea Hampton.”

    The man grinned and chuckled, looking straight to Elizabeth. “This should be great, what about you?”

    “Elizabeth Kennedy.” She kept her head down when she answered.

    His chuckle turned into full on laughing and hollering. “Now, why is Chelsea Hampton running around with a Voyager?”

    “Better question, why is it any of your business?” Chelsea snapped back once she saw Elizabeth’s face go red.

    The man leaned in closer to Chelsea. “I don’t know about you but she’s married to a man, don’t let her seduce you to get to your daddy’s resources.”

    In the corner of her eye, Chelsea saw Elizabeth jerk her head back up. In that same split second, she sent a fist hurtling towards the man. “I don’t know who you think you are, talking to either of us like that, but we’re leaving.”

    He seemed unphased by the punch, simply rubbing his jaw for a moment. “I’m the bouncer and I can tell you that neither of you are leaving.” He turned them both around and took the deeper into the bar, eventually sitting them down in front of the bartender. “Portia. Just one.”

    The bartender whipped up a drink and set in front of the bouncer. He slid it towards Chelsea with expectant eyes. Elizabeth leaned towards her, her voice a panicked whisper. “Chelsea, he’s going to kill both of us if you don’t drink it.”

    Chelsea began swearing to herself. ‘I stopped what happened with Ethan, but does that really mean that this has to happen?

    She paused and looked between Elizabeth and the bouncer before downing the drink. There was clearly something wrong with it, but she had trust enough trust that Elizabeth would do something to help if she needed to.

    The two of them stood and started a walk away. She felt a bit confident that they were finally going to be let go.

    Elizabeth turned back once, a look of fear instantly taking her over. “Chelsea, look out!”

    Before Chelsea had any chance to react, Elizabeth pulled Chelsea in front of her, the sound of a gunshot went off, followed by a few screams.

    Chelsea turned back to find Elizabeth on the ground, her own blood forming a pool around her body.

    A second shot fired off, sending Chelsea down to the ground. Elizabeth was already gone and Chelsea wasn’t too far behind.

    “A Hampton and a leading Voyager.” The bouncer’s voice was the last thing Chelsea heard.

    ???

    Deep breaths.

    One in, one out.

    Another one in, another one out.

    The boy repeated the instructions to himself in his head until he felt confident enough to raise himself.

    He pushed himself off the cold ground, a sudden surge of pain going through his head.

    “You’re up.” The voice of a young girl echoed in the room. “That’s a relief.”

    He opened his eyes to find himself face to face with the girl who had just spoken. “Who are you?” Her hair was black and a bit mangled. Her clothes were in worse condition.

    “Morgan Albero, pleasure to meet ya.” She held out her hand.

    He took her hand, letting her do all the shaking. “Greg.”

    “Do you have a last name?” She pulled her hand back, now looking at him as if he had disrespected her by withholding his last name.

    “Yeah, it’s Remey, sorry.” He sat up, looking around the room. There was no furniture and the room itself was quite cold. “You’re a Voyager, right? I remember your last name in some of my dad’s papers.”

    She frowned a little. “I thought I was, but that was two years ago. I haven’t seen any of them in a long time. They said that they told a Voyager where I was and that their cooperation would get me out of here, but I’m still here. Whos’ your dad?”

    “Rocco, he’s in charge of main base.”

    “I didn’t know Rocco had a son. Nobody ever mentioned that.” Morgan seemed suspicious of Greg.

    He nodded. “Gregory Fredrick Remey. Not a lot of people know about me and that’s only because my dad doesn’t like to be tied down, especially not by a kid.”

    “I guess that’s why your last names are different.” She had a sympathetic look in her eyes. “I bet you’re wondering where we are.” Greg nodded, waiting for her to go on. “The best way I can put it is that the wrong person found out who your dad was and they took you.”

    “Rest assured, your father has been made aware.” A husky voice now echoed through the empty room. “In fact, he told us we could keep you.” There was a chuckle. “I guess he really doesn’t want people to know about his mistake.”

    Greg simply sighed before standing on his own, looking to Morgan. “Looks like we’re in the same boat then.”

    A woman stepped out of the dark, allowing Greg to look over her, immediately noticing her scarred face. She didn’t have much hair, which made him believe that she kept it cut short for a reason. “Oh no, not at all. We know for certain that we won’t be getting anything from your father, but we have yet to hear from the Voyagers. You’ll be put to work and she’ll be staying here until we hear something back.”

    A man followed behind her. “But first, I’ll explain to you how the game works.”

    “The game?” Greg looked to Morgan, who had a somber expression on her face.

    The man grinned. “Your people know you’re here, but that doesn’t mean you can’t try to escape. We’ve got eyes and ears everywhere, which will make a real challenge for you. If you escape, congratulations, you’ve won. Your group meeting our demands will count as your forfeiting and failure to meet our demands or escape will mean that the game goes on.”

    Morgan noticed the disgusted look on Gregory’s face. “So you kidnapped myself and a little girl so you can play some twisted game?”

    “And in nearly every scenario, we get rewards.” The woman crossed her arms, her enthusiastic attitude growing increasingly obnoxious to Greg. “You’re going to spend the night here and Morgan will get you caught up on what she knows, then by morning, you’ll officially be part of our game!”

    With that, the two spun on their heels and left the room, locking it on their way out. “What are those two?”

    The girl shook her head. “If my parents hadn’t taught me any better, I’d say they came from some other planet.”

    Milo Neil

    About an hour after the meeting, there was a knock on Milo’s door.

    The only issue he had with the motel’s design was the fact that the doors didn’t have a peephole, but aside from the motel’s design, there were plenty of issues. Most of them caused by Rocco.

    He opened the door to Cyrus, trying to stop his own nose from bleeding. “Filip’s out, there’s no telling when a replacement’s due.”

    “We’re even more outnumbered then.” Milo sighed, bringing Cyrus into the room and shutting the door behind him. “This is going south real fast and we have absolutely no current or backup plan.”

    Milo brought Cyrus a tissue, allowing him to at least try and stay clean. “Are you not going to ask what he did?”

    He rolled his eyes. “What did he do?”

    “He snapped on Rocco for grabbing Alyssa.” Cyrus noticed Milo only give a nod in response. “Milo, I feel like I’m losing you, what’s on your mind?”

    “Nothing, what do you need from me?”

    Cyrus could tell by how quickly Milo snapped that he wasn’t in the mood to talk. “I need you to help me out by going to get Alyssa’s stuff. Rocco doesn’t like you, but he’s not going to get violent with you. She’s in my room right now, go get the key from her.”

    Milo went around Cyrus, leaving the room to start a walk to his room.

    Rocco’s people were out and about, which was unusual but told Milo that they were looking for Filip who was likely already away from the area.

    A man with short black hair drew closer to Milo. “James.”

    They knew each other, or at least had known each other before their paths broke off. They were good friends until MIlo left, after that they denounced their friendship and completely forgot about their time together. “Milo, where’s your buddy?”

    James stopped in front of Milo, making sure he was in Milo’s way so he would would have to stop as well. “I’ve got no clue.”

    Milo went past James, causing James to start walking after him. “We both know that you know, Milo, come on. Just say if he’s gone already so we can work on getting a replacement.”

    “Nope, he’s still here.”

    James sighed, still trailing after Milo. “I don’t like the way Rocco’s treating you either, but I’m not directly involved in that. If you can’t help me just this once, he’ll force my hand in the matter.”

    “Help you just this once?” Milo stopped and turned to face James. “I helped you all the time, James. I did things for you that I wouldn’t even do for my own sister so don’t say I’ve never helped you.”

    Milo saw a sad look cross his face as he muttered an apology and turned to leave.

    His anger towards James started to turn into pity after that moment.

    Bruco Vane

    “As leaders, we hereby swear to our people that they will have nothing to fear from the resistances.” Edefelic’s voice boomed. “The resistances have been difficult to handle since the beginning, but no longer will they cause pain or fear to others. As of this moment, any resistance member caught will be put to work as any regular person would. Their past will be forgiven and forgotten, their trust will be restored, and we will move on together, as a community.”

    The man next to Bruco leaned over and whispered to him. “What do you think?”

    Bruco responded in a regular voice, as the bandana wrapped around his face usually muffled his voice. “I think it’s another false promise since it takes their cooperation, the organization’s cooperation, and the people’s cooperation. Some people aren’t going to be able to forgive a resistance member, regardless of what their leader says.”

    The man nodded. “Agreed.” He chuckled. “I’ve never had a run in with a resistance member and even I couldn’t forgive what I’ve heard they’d done.”

    Bruco thought for a minute. Had this man heard what his organization had done, he wouldn’t know who to put his trust into. That’s why Bruco often stayed on his own and travelled as he pleased.

    He tuned back into Edefelic’s speech just in time. “Travellers will continue to travel without restrictions, however any traveller found to be travelling for reasons related to the resistance will face the same treatment as any resistance member and receive a ban on their travelling until they can prove to the leader of the organization that they aren’t part of any movement.”

    Part of what made Bruco’s travels so interesting to him was seeing the difference that organization workers and resistance members lived in. He had never sworn allegiance to any group, and he was unlikely to, but he couldn’t help but feel that the organizations were trying to trap the resistance and it was working.

    “Building on that, travelling in any matter is going to become more difficult, but only for the safety of the citizens. Nobody without proper authorization will be allowed on a plane for absolutely any reason. Proper authorization can be received from headquarters.”

    Bruco nodded, turning to leave. “I need to get out of here before they effects really kick in.”

    On his way out, Bruco saw a man with his long blond hair in a ponytail, hurrying out as well. He looked like he was in a rush to get wherever he was going.

    He noticed the man from previous meetings, which made Bruco believe he was either an organization leader or a resistance leader.

    Next Time:

    • Two people waited at the door. One being Isaac Hampton, the other being Naomi Richardson. An unlikely pair that could raise already high nerves.

    • "Your mind may refuse to believe the obvious because you're afraid." The woman's once hoarse voice seemed better. "But you're going to have to grow up and open your eyes sometime before you lose them."

    • "Drop the box and you'll help your friends, end your own life, and risk your wife's life. Hand the box over and you save yourself, her, and you get a good word in to the boss. What's your choice?

    • A forced smile came over her face as she laughed to try and stop herself from getting upset. "Looks like we're not going home anytime soon, huh?"

    • The woman sighed, folding her hands in front of her. "You weren't supposed to be back so soon and company wasn't expected. To fix this, you'll have to settle your differences and work together. I can guide you, but I can't do it by myself."

  • edited February 2018

    2.11: “Eris.”: Having Alyssa ask Eris about her illness would have disastrous results for her attempt at helping and would have upset Joseph, making him believe Alyssa was unreliable.

    3.1: [Allow Milo to go.]: Had Alyssa let Milo go see Elizabeth, he would have completely broken down once he saw her. He would be inconsolable and lash out at Alyssa and Marshal for trying to calm him down. While Alyssa would understand his reasoning, she wouldn’t like seeing that side of him and try to distance herself from him while Elizabeth recovered.

    3.3: “Tell me how to initiate a lockdown, you go warn the others, then get Elizabeth.”: This choice would have changed the timing of the events, but still would have resulted in both Marshal and Elizabeth getting caught.

    3.3: ”Initiate a lockdown, stay in the lab.”: This choice would have resulted in a conversation between Eris and Marshal that would have changed their relationship for the worse. Elizabeth would be the only one to get caught, and as previously stated, the group would have stayed in the bunker instead of leaving and eventually ending up with Rocco.

    3.3: ”Don’t initiate a lockdown, alert the other scouts and watch over the bunker.”: By telling Marshal to keep from a lockdown, it would have resulted in the deaths of Cyrus and Filip, along with the capturing of Marshal himself and Kyle. On the offending side, Luke would have gotten shot by Filip and retaliated by killing him while Mallory would have been killed by Marshal, ultimately causing a “trial” in the next chapter.

    3.4: [Drop it.]: Dropping the idea of the diner would have set Marshal and Elizabeth up for major problems with Luke. The diner is used as a separation method between Marshal and Luke. Had it not been used, Elizabeth would have struck a deal with Luke instead of Isaac to keep Marshal from getting killed.

    3.4: ”Their situation is too dangerous for you.”: Marie would have been furious at Nicolas for judging what she could or couldn’t handle. She would have tagged along regardless, but she would be leaning more towards hearing the Voyagers out when in came to Rocco, rather than letting Pierre make the calls.

    3.5: [Disagree to the move, multiple members aren’t capable of going distances]: With their location known and members missing, the Voyagers would stay, but they would also be more vigilant. Ethan, Eris, and Joseph wouldn’t have been captured if this choice was chosen, but it would also prove more difficulties for Elizabeth and Marshal later on.

    3.6 [Confront Isaac]: This was one of the three major choices that would influence Chelsea and Elizabeth’s relationship from either trusted allies or known enemies. Choosing to confront Isaac would have left Chelsea with less answers than she got from Elizabeth, her chip wouldn’t have been modified, she wouldn’t have had the scene with her mother, but she also wouldn’t have nearly died.

    3.7 [Attempt to fight back]: Ethan wouldn’t have gotten captured if Eris chose to fight back, however if she did fight back, she would have gotten a major beat down by Luke for fighting back. Mallory wouldn’t have died, but she would have make her allegiance clear by pushing Eris around whenever she got the chance.

    3.9 [Ask Elizabeth to stay]: Asking Elizabeth to stay would have given Chelsea a bit more insight on her “condition” and the information she seeks on Luke. The bar scene would have happened sooner. When it came to Chelsea’s premonition on Ethan, Elizabeth would have agreed to go to the diner and forewarn him, preventing the scene from happening. Elizabeth would later thank Chelsea for asking her to stay, admitting that every second she spent around the Voyagers felt suffocating.

    3.9 [Ask Marshal to stay]: Marshal would be hesitant to send Elizabeth but would agree to stay. Chelsea would be able to learn a bit more about the Voyagers through him, but she wouldn’t push too far for information. She’d learn about Luke’s issues with him and would discuss the past five months with him. The bar scene with Elizabeth would happen later, but Chelsea’s premonition wouldn’t go unaddressed. The two would go to the diner and end up staying out with some time to spare. She’d attempt to find out the plans with those in the apartment, but he would refuse to give answers on that and later say she was pushing her luck but he enjoyed having her around. This choice would have influenced Chelsea’s relationship with all of the Voyagers for the better.

    3.9 [Encourage them all to go]: While they would all be hesitant to leave her alone, she would have insisted that she’d be fine. Her premonition would go unaddressed, but she would have gotten the ability to look around the apartment. The bar scene would have happened way later with her premonition unaddressed, causing more troubles for the Voyagers and not increasing her relationship with any of them.

    As you'll notice, three choices are missing from this lineup. It was intentional and the reasoning is because the results of the choice picked have only been poked at, but it's a choice that was meant to effect the next chapter more either way.

    Now, this is the first finale that I've done that doesn't have a choice at the end and it feels quite strange, as the choices at the end usually determine the way the chapter goes from the start, but this is one of the chapters where most choices from before influence the direction. Anyways, unless I can think of something else, the end of chapter questions are open.

    1) Who is your favorite character?

    2) And your least favorite?

    3) Who is a character you want to see more of?

    4) What is a theme you want to see more of?

    5) Where do you believe the main story is going for the Voyagers?

    6) Where do you believe the main story for the Onyx Organization is going?

    7) Are there any plot points you believe I neglected that you would like to see covered?

    8) Is there any speculation you’d like to provide on the next time segment?

    9) Lastly, do you have any questions or comments of your own?

    New information on Act II: I've done the numbers (which have potential of being wrong), but there are currently 7 ongoing story lines (two characters are part of multiple story lines, but they've been counted towards their own story lines), along with 4 planned story lines. That's honestly a huge jump from last chapter. Things might get a little messy but the 4 planned story lines aren't going to be starting any time soon, likely after one story line is cut, another one will be entered.

    By the end of Act I, I have no idea how many story lines will be going, but they'll most likely be drawn to a pause or a close until Act II starts, which is when the two major story lines will be replaced.

    Act II will see a different set of main characters and minor characters, it'll see a different goal, but most of the characters will stay the same. (Obviously with the exception of dead characters, they can't really do much once they're dead.)

    I have no reason to post the important links anymore, so that'll be the end of this post.

    Chapter Four can be expected after the weekend, likely Tuesday.

  • That was quite an intense finale! There is just so much information to digest. I'm shocked, is Elizabeth and her unborn child officially dead? She was one of my favorite Voyagers! Was there anything we could have done to save her? That bouncer is insane he just attacked not only Elizabeth (who was being allowed to live so far by Isaac), but also the Onyx Organization's leaders' (Isaac Hampton's) daughter!!!!! Does he have some sort of death wish?! Speaking of Chelsea, she just became a major asset and liability for the voyagers in this part. Her new mysterious power to see events that happened in the past and events yet to happen in the future makes her quite useful and quite dangerous. If word of her abilities got out, everyone would want to use her. Organization's would probably want to chip her and use her for themselves. Rebel groups would also wish to use her for their goals as well. Some people or groups or organizations might be afraid of her and what she can uncover (if they can't control her) and might try to take her out! That is only if word of her abilities becomes public. However, she could use her abilities to help the voyagers with other things. (Example: finding out what happened to Morgan and where she currently is being held and reuniting her with her mom.) They would just need to make sure her new abilities stay secret.

    3.11 - Chapter 3 Finale “Joseph, you’ve got an idea of what you’re doing in terms of medicine, right?” Chelsea noticed that most of the V

  • That was quite an intense finale! There is just so much information to digest.

    This part takes the title of longest part yet but holds a tie for the most POVs. This finale also marks the point where choices become more crucial and could be life or death (ex. the "box" mentioned in the next time part.).

    I'm shocked, is Elizabeth and her unborn child officially dead? She was one of my favorite Voyagers! Was there anything we could have done to save her?

    Yes, she is officially dead. After being stabbed by her own teammate and nearly being cast away, a bouncer at a sleazy bar proved to be her undoing. The only way to prevent Elizabeth's death would be for her to have stayed with the main group; however once she was taken, there was no way to prevent but only to delay it by having everyone go to the diner in 3.9. Only time will tell how and when Isaac and the Voyagers find out and handle it.

    That bouncer is insane he just attacked not only Elizabeth (who was being allowed to live so far by Isaac), but also the Onyx Organization's leaders' (Isaac Hampton's) daughter!!!!! Does he have some sort of death wish?!

    Heh, that's a golden question. The Onyx Organization follows a prohibition statement and with all the people Chelsea and Elizabeth are connected to, it was really their mistake going to a bar. The bouncer that did it and the drink that was served certainly haven't seen their last.

    Speaking of Chelsea, she just became a major asset and liability for the voyagers in this part. Her new mysterious power to see events that happened in the past and events yet to happen in the future makes her quite useful and quite dangerous. If word of her abilities got out, everyone would want to use her. Organization's would probably want to chip her and use her for themselves. Rebel groups would also wish to use her for their goals as well. Some people or groups or organizations might be afraid of her and what she can uncover (if they can't control her) and might try to take her out!

    Chelsea's power is going to bring a brand new element to the story and it's one that I'm really excited for. Her character is currently iffy on the Voyagers and rest assured, Isaac isn't going to be too happy to hear that his daughter has been hanging out with members of the resistance, as the bouncer said (which is perhaps the only reasonable action of his.). It's really up to choices made on whether Chelsea builds up a relationship with the Voyagers or not. What she and Joseph learned on her powers was really only the first step, she's got a lot more to learn and her own goal has yet to be fulfilled which it just might be a lot more difficult without Elizabeth.

    However, she could use her abilities to help the voyagers with other things. (Example: finding out what happened to Morgan and where she currently is being held and reuniting her with her mom.) They would just need to make sure her new abilities stay secret.

    The Voyagers could use a lot of help, they're really in no position to deny help and Elizabeth's death is going to make their status as a group even more desperate. The Voyagers started out with seven members and had eleven members at their peak. Since then, four have been captured, one has been killed, and two have gone missing. So they could definitely use Chelsea's abilities to benefit the group. Though, that begs the question, how well would Isaac Hampton take to his daughter becoming allies with the Voyagers?

    That was quite an intense finale! There is just so much information to digest. I'm shocked, is Elizabeth and her unborn child officially dea

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