( closed ) it was my destiny, it's what we needed to do

[backpacking]

Who: Ellie and Nate
Where: The woods
When: 8/3
Rating: PG (but with language)
Summary: Ellie is practicing defense. Nate goes for a walk. A meeting takes place after a crisis is averted.
The Story:

[ It'd taken her a long time to get it right. The things were so damn dangerous, after all, going off when you didn't mean for them too. She'd avoided the danger of the nail bombs thus far and had finally seemed to get the mixture right so that the container itself was small and discrete while the result was as deadly as possible.

Yep, Ellie has perfected her nail bomb technique. The girl exhales shortly, proud of her handiwork, gingerly turning over the rattling can in her hands. Time to set it up, to see if it really does the deed. So, she continues on her mission, attaching the thing to the base of a tree, making sure the other is close enough that the person who tripped it (theoretically) would be close enough for the explosion to have a big effect. She strings the bomb up and then tugs the wire taught, looping it around a neighbor tree.

She steps back to admire her handiwork. Then, she realizes she has no safe way to test it and mutters curses, hunting around for something to snag the trap from a distance. Ellie pauses, eyeing it warily, but... she's out far enough, right? Nobody would walk through it in the five minutes that it (hopefully) would take to find something suitable, right?

Right, she agrees without conviction, and walks away to find a big stick. ]

Comments

[nonscriptum]

[Joke's on you, Nate may look like an adult, but he's still secretly twelve years old at heart. He puts on a self-deprecating, but grateful, smile.]

Sorry to bust your chops about playing guide, but I got the nickel tour already. I'm sure there's a whole bunch of stuff that's gonna bite me in the ass later, but that's...about par for the course, with me.

[For a long moment Nate frowns at the backpack she's wearing, wondering if there are more bombs inside that tiny canvas bag.]

So are you prepping for the apocalypse, or...

[backpacking]

[ Well, Ellie's fourteen, so that means she is The Adult in this situation.

She blinks at his 'apology,' wonder if he always speaks with so many (in her mind) wacky phrases. 'Bust your chops.' Gimme a break, man. ]

That's Wonderland. "Stuff that bites you in the ass" central.

[ Sorry to say. She catches his gaze on the backpack and Ellie has to force down the automatic suspicion that rises in her stomach, the fight or flight response that she's honed to a perfect sharpness. ]

Something like that. [ How astute. ] But, now, the apocalypse happened already a few months ago. You should be safe now.

[ By her expression, it might be hard to tell whether she's making a joke, or... not. ]

[nonscriptum]

[Nate has a tendency to fall back on euphemism when words fail him (which is often).]

Ha. Funny. [The little laugh dies almost immediately, because she looks raw and serious in a way that suggests her "world" is...really screwed.] You're not joking, right. Uh.

[When Nate was fifteen, he was cornered by an imposing woman and her small posse of armed guards, all of whom demanded he fork over an artifact that was rightfully (subjectively) his. It hangs around his neck now, but getting backhanded and shot at by adults didn't do much to instill him with confidence in their ability to protect him. Hell, it hadn't since he was five.

Her suspicion is warranted. Nate would be wary, too. Friendliness is often used to pull the wool over a lot of ulterior motives.]

So...you leave any other mines out here I should be worried about?

[backpacking]

You can ask anyone. [ She says conversationally, because most people make jokes about the end of the world, and... honestly, so does Ellie, but "most people" haven't actually seen it firsthand. ] I wasn't the only one here when it happened.

[ God, what would that have been like?

(Home, probably.) ]

Nah, just that one. [ Since it's diffused now, she decides to just... stow it away for another time. She can go farther out into the woods where some guy won't accidentally stumble into a bomb. Hopefully. ] I mean, I can't promise that other people didn't leave weird shit out here, but I didn't.

[ Except for that one nail bomb. But, it's gone now!! ]

[nonscriptum]

Oh. Good.

[Mr. Takes Grenades to the Face Every Other Day over here was really hoping to avoid all that on his leisurely afternoon stroll.]

So you've- I'm curious, since you've clearly got a handle on the terrain, uh, obviously, but is it just...rolling hills out here? I didn't see any mountains, any cliffs or indication of subterranean spaces...

[backpacking]

Hey, that's just Wonderland. Weird people, dangerous place. It'll be easier if you just accept it.

[ Sorry, dude. ]

"Indication of subterranean spaces?" Are you kidding? [ She puffs out her cheeks, shaking her head. ] Uh... there are caves, but I'm not sure that'll be as good as your "subterranean spaces." No idea what the implications are, there. And, yeah, no mountains. If you want to climb stuff, it'll have to be trees.

[ Or the roof, as Rafe would later point out... ]

Why?

[nonscriptum]

That's- a cave is a subterranean space.

[Did she think that was some kind of weird euphemism? Come on. Nate can't execute a skillful come-on if his life depends upon it, and certainly wouldn't ever be using one on an actual child.

With explosives.]

And I'm just curious! I'm sure you've noticed, but this place isn't exactly. Happening. Does it always look this way? Like the French coast, or something?

[backpacking]

I know, but you made it sound... I dunno. Fancy.

[ SHUT UP she's smart she reads books and went to school ]

"Isn't happening?" [ The fuck is that lingo? ] Uh... I don't know anything about the French coast, but... yeah, mostly just looks like this.

[ Sometimes the seasons change, but that's not exactly noteworthy. ]

... Oh! But... Actually, one time, these caves opened up and let people go really far underground. Apparently. It was dangerous, since they weren't the usual caves, and they were full of monsters and shit.

[ Or so she'd heard. ]

[nonscriptum]

[If Ellie went to school, that makes one of them. Nate is beginning to assume that this meeting has turned out to be a bust until she opens up on the state of the caves, which is particularly appealing for some reasons, less so for others.]

...monsters.

[The sudden, uncomfortable flashback to the Nazi sub bunker in El Dorado leaves him grimacing, a very clear mental image of a very specific monster. The descendants of the Spanish and the Germans, half-naked with bloodied teeth and long limbs, sprinting down the dark hallways at him...yeesh.]

Do you know if those are still there? Because that would suck.

[backpacking]

Oh, no, no worries. The caves - those caves, anyway - closed up. The whatever-they-were disappeared along with 'em.

[ Everyone is glad for that, probably. ]

I mean, other monsters... have showed up? And they'll probably show up again? But, those particular ones are gone. Pretty sure we're in the clear, at least for today.

[ She's grinning, but it isn't exactly reassuring. ]