Winchester/Fairfield Expedition - Depature

[winfield]

[After working for roughly a day and a half, nearly nonstop for some of you, the town's looking both healthier and hardier. With most (if not all) of the expeditioners contributing to reparation and building, you've managed to get a lot of work done: all the buildings have at least been patched up to some extent, and the poor broken fence is now standing and sturdy. You've even managed to get together a couple outposts. Nothing fancy-- they're just elevated platforms, really-- but they serve their purpose of allowing people to see far out quite well.

It's probably best to start heading back now, though, since you need the supplies you brought to last you the trip home.]

DR. BREWER | PACK IT UP, KIDS | HEATH | PEOPLE WHO WANT TO STAY

Comments

[youfallback]

[Well she's got a dilemma here. She wants to stay away from the Castle, but she doesn't want to necessarily stay and help a community. Tough choices here. Regardless, she's not in any rush to pack up her things and she glances over at York when he poses the question.]

[encryptedlock]

[He glances back at her questioningly. It would at least be something productive to do....]

I'm thinking make sure they all know how to defend themselves between whatever weapons we leave here and whatever they have. Set up a defensive perimeter. Make a couple of safehouses in case there's an attack. You think you might be up for some of that?

[Helping people farm may not be her thing, but if it's military tactics, she might be a little more willing to pitch in. Besides, if they really do want to learn how to break away from the castle, this is a damn good opportunity.]

[youfallback]

[Carolina raises an eyebrow over at him and crosses her arms as she thinks. It's not like she has anything better to do than breaking away from the group back, but that wouldn't be the end she was looking for. Staying here would be the best chance to get what she wanted, even if it meant pretending to care about setting up some military-grade fortifications.]

That would take weeks. Months even. [Which guess what she doesn't have a problem staying out here away from the Castle's influence.] What about Delta?

[encryptedlock]

[Really, if he could figure out a way to have Delta at full power out here?

Yeah.]

He'll be fine for a while - we've gone on trips close to a month before. This Tamagotchi really doesn't take much power, and I have it wired redundantly.

But he is going to feel cramped for a while. And, well, I should go check on South, too. Still, with the sleighs, it only takes a couple hours to get back to the castle. I could go back for a weekend and then come back.

[youfallback]

[Her gaze hardens at the explicit mention of South, but otherwise doesn't change much. She's surprised he doesn't want to just run back to Texas, but that's been her absolute lack of self-esteem influencing her again. If he left and just never came back, she wouldn't be all that surprised either.]

That could work. [She doesn't have any reason to go back except to retrieve Georgia and her armor. Any ties she'd had holding her to the Castle had pretty much all been severed at this point.]

[encryptedlock]

[Christ, he hasn't even spent more than a few minutes with Tex since she's been here.]

And, well. I used to have a house here once. You think it's still around? Probably wouldn't take too much fixing up.

[York Ranch, that's what it was called.]

[youfallback]

[Still five minutes too many!!!! That is, Carolina does at least look mildly curious at the mention of a house. ]

We could look. [And there is that elusive "we" that she's been avoiding using for the past four or five months.]

[encryptedlock]

[There's really no winning where Tex is involved, is there? But fortunately for York, he does notice that "we"--and tries not to visibly react to it even though he is quite pleased.]

Yeah. Use it as a base out here. Maybe even set it up for long-term use.

[youfallback]

[Carolina watches him carefully, for any tell that might indicate an immediate betrayal. However, there aren't any apparent in the other soldier's expression.]

To get away from the Castle for good.

[encryptedlock]

[York shrugs. He's not sure he wants to give up the castle in its entirety just yet, but...the idea's been there in his head for a while.]

Maybe. Worth a shot, anyway.

[youfallback]

[Yeah, Carolina is about 500% done with the Castle and its shit.] Unless it grabs us again.

[encryptedlock]

[Despite all the terrible things it's done to him, the castle still does get some bonus points for bringing in his friends--and Carolina, of course. So he can't totally blame it for everything, not without admitting it's done him some good, anyway.

That said, he can totally see her point.]

Unless it grabs us again. But then we deal with it, same as we always do.

[youfallback]

You mean be completely at its whims. [She glowers out toward the general direction of the Castle. There's a difference between being mean and sadistic and she's sure it's crossed that line by ripping her only anchor out from underneath her when she felt she'd at least made some minor progress. It's more the lack of control than that even; she's been pushed and pulled and manipulated without her consent enough for several lifetimes before the Castle decided to step in.

She shoulders her pack and glances around for some kind of sign as to the direction of York Ranch.]

[encryptedlock]

Well, yeah. I was talking more about dealing with the aftermath.

[But at least out here, as far as York knows anyway, they're safe from temporary losses. After being turned into a toy twice in quick succession, York's ready to take a break from that.]

This way.

[It's on the north edge of town, and luckily no one has yet taken it over. A few of the windows could use replacing and it's pretty dusty-looking, but the walls and fences all seem to be in pretty good repair.]

[youfallback]

[She's honestly a little surprised at how it isn't falling apart. Minus the dust and those few windows, it could be usable within a couple weeks. She heads up to the door and carefully pushes it open. The interior is not that much different from the exterior, but the furniture inside is covered in mothballs from disuse.

Still, it's a home. Or what had been a home. She had dim memories that the Castle had placed in her about a family that she'd never actually had, growing up in a ranch house with three older brothers.

She frowns at the reminder that even now she's still feeling the effects of the Castle and moves into the kitchen to see the state of it.]

[encryptedlock]

[Well, it wasn't completely destroyed by the tornado - in fact, aside from the usual effects of weather it seems almost untouched. The plumbing is rudimentary at best, with fresh water having to come from a pump out in the yard, but the fixtures are in fairly good shape and only need a good washing before they can be used to prepare the next meal.

York brings in the remainder of the nonperishable food he'd brought with him: flour, noodles, beans, bacon, and a good selection of canned vegetables and pasta sauces. It's enough to last them at least a week before heading back for a resupply, probably more.]

It's--let's see, I think it's four bedrooms in the main house and then a few more people can crash in the hayloft if we need the space. Bunkbeds in at least one of the rooms.

[The linens might need a good cleaning or replacement, though, and there are a couple of windows that could use work.]

[youfallback]

[Carolina sets down her pack in one of the chairs at the kitchen table, glancing around before following him into the kitchen. Four bedrooms. If she took one, him another, that would leave two guestrooms and the hayloft. She knows she would take the smallest room, as she doesn't need it for much more than sleeping, which would leave one of the bigger rooms for guests.

The key, though, would possibly getting power out here if they could rebuild the steam engines in some way to be used more permanently. That would make any guest's stay that much nicer, especially if it could pump water into the house.]

We'll need to return for supplies for those.

[Maybe it's being away from the Castle, maybe it's having him here rather than a toy, maybe it's a combination of both, but she manages to ask a question,] Will those keep? [Her eyes are on the food sitting out. She never knows what York brings that is or isn't perishable.]

[encryptedlock]

[York, for his part, will claim the master bedroom. It's much bigger than one person needs, but it had been his before and he wasn't quite ready to give it up yet. They'd have to do laundry soon if they wanted the blankets to be any good, though.]

Mostly. You want to keep the beans and grains away from light and moisture, but the canned food will keep pretty much forever. It'll be better once we have some fresh vegetables to go with it, but meat might be a problem until we can get some stock.

pretend this isn't literally a month late

[youfallback]

[Carolina nods and settles her pack on the table to start picking through what food she has. Surprise, surprise, it's MREs. As she tugs them out from her pack, though, she does at least offer a halfway apologetic glance. She knows how he feels about them, or really the more important factor of her not eating right.]

Nuts will help with protein until then. And we have these if those run out. [She gestures to the MREs and tries to not sound hopeful. Tries.]

I saw nothing amiss

[encryptedlock]

[York shakes his head and grins just a little.]

Only in an emergency. Despite the crawling pace we took to get here, it only takes a couple hours to get back to the castle with the vehicles. Still, they are all right for emergencies. If we really have to.

[youfallback]

[Alright, she can at least hang on to them for an emergency. She'll start tucking them away into one of the cabinets, albeit in the very back.]

For emergencies, then. [She gives him a small half-smile.] We can unpack and start making lists of supplies we need out here.

[Because yeah she'd rather not go back to the Castle unless she needs to.]

[encryptedlock]

I think that sounds like a great plan. Once we get things rolling, I think we could be self-sufficient out here.

[And then they wouldn't have to go back to the castle for anything.

The idea sounds better and better all the time.]

[youfallback]

I would be alright with never going back to the Castle. [She says it quietly, as if she's afraid that the aforementioned Castle might hear.]

[encryptedlock]

[He smiles a little, but it doesn't quite reach his eyes.]

I've still got some unfinished business there. But--maybe some day. We could just take off.

[youfallback]

[As she finishes unpacking the MREs, she frowns up at him. She had spent months in the Dead Zone already, felt like there was nothing holding her to the Castle anymore, but she knew he wasn't like her in that respect. There were a lot of people he cared for, a lot of people who had disappeared, too, without warning.]

I'd like that. [Even his use of the word "we."]