Terre Haute

[paradisamods]

[Today, our intrepid explorers have finally made it to Terre Haute. It’s mostly grassland, and on the outskirts small spotted lions, about the size of leopards prowl around. They seem to be more interested in the strange antelope running around than in any people, however. Towards the edge, lies a cliff face, looking out to sea, on occasion giant whales can be seen breaching the water.

Of the weird thing they came to look for, in the distance is a cylindrical shape, lying on its side. But between them and it is a strange village. One made up of excessively tall wooden huts, all of which have electric lights, turned on, though how they’re creating such power is a mystery, they are still very much inside the dead zone.

The residents of this off little village are wandering around, going about their buisess. The residents being a group of bemused looking giraffes. Perhaps you will even see some familiar non-giraffe faces milling about.

Welcome to Terre Haute]

[[GRASSLANDS AND CLIFFS | TOWN SQUARE | JUICE BAR | DANCE HALL | THE ESCALATOR | MIRROR CONTROL ROOM ]]

Comments

[youfallback]

I remember everything.

[She tries to clamp down on the burst of guilt and regret and pain that slices through her. She needs to have a unified front here, not a mind split into pieces, still bleeding and raw from Maine's assault. Her shoulders are rigid, painfully set against the rest of her body.

But she does remember. She remembers the time they'd spent together, everything except the chip.]

You still chose her.

[encryptedlock]

[And that hurts. He'd thought they'd discussed this--if she remembered, she'd know that. Wouldn't she? When York speaks, his voice sounds very raw, as if she'd cut him to the bone.]

No. It was never about her, Carolina. You chose him instead of yourself. I only wanted you to open your eyes and see that.

[youfallback]

[Carolina shakes her head at him, furious in ways she's never been before. She doesn't want to have this pointless conversation with him again. Her anger breaks across her walls for a moment.]

Everything was about her.

[Her father had chosen Texas. York and North had chosen Texas. After everything. But she tries to fight back against it, to swallow it down no matter how bitter the taste.]

[encryptedlock]

[York sits back up so he can look directly at her again, and his expression is much more full of sadness than anger. This? This is why he never wishes for people to come back. It would just take that wish and twist it around somehow, like this.]

Listen to me, Carolina. It's not about her. Didn't you ever stop and think about what could have possibly made me come back for you? How about why I left in the first place? I never fucking stayed up all night to watch her in the training room and make sure she got some sleep. I sure as hell never loved her like I love you.

[youfallback]

[Carolina openly glares at him as he speaks, not letting a single word past her drawn-up defenses. He has to be lying, that's the only explanation she can come up with that hurts just a little less than what he's saying. He chose Texas, it's plainly clear to her.] You came back to help her steal what she was after.

[And, she recalls bitterly, he'd slept with her here at the Castle.

Just as she's about to storm off again, she sees the dog tags sitting against the fabric of his shirt. Her real name. She remembered she'd given them to him in Paris. When the Castle had replaced the memories of her real family. In a moment of sudden panic at him finding out her real last name, she reaches down for the dog tags and tries to pull them free.]

[encryptedlock]

And you never bothered to learn why, did you? Or even ask. Carolina, the Alpha was being tortured--hey!

[Oh wait he can't continue because she's reaching down to grab at the only thing that's kept him sane these past couple of months. York grabs back at her wrist to try and use pressure points to force it open--and barely manages to resist rolling away, which would have made the chain snap and leave her with the dog tags.]

[youfallback]

[She's too focused on getting the dog tags to listen to what he's saying. The pressure on her wrist is too strong to keep her fingers around the metal without serious pain, but she'll try bringing her other hand around to attempt to reciprocate the same grab on his wrist.] Give them back.

[encryptedlock]

No!

[Despite that she really has every right to ask for them back, it's not--he can't--she gave them to him! He'll bring his other hand in to protect the one gripping her, and he's definitely looking more panicked now.]

Would I still be wearing these if--oof--if all I cared about was Tex?

[youfallback]

[Soon enough the grip on her wrist is too much and she's never been one to be able to put up with physical pain. She releases her grip with a surge of self-hate that she couldn't hold on longer, but her fingers are numb--- but she should have been able to fight through it.]

Give. Them. Back!

[encryptedlock]

[And with that he rolls away and quickly gets to his feet.]

Why? You're just going to leave me again, aren't you? What does it matter to you if I want to remember the person you used to be?

[youfallback]

[Carolina falters for a moment as she stands back up straight again, tempted to both dart back away and fight him square on at the same time. His mention of 'the person' she used to be pushes enough anger through her mind to go for the second option. She doesn't respond, instead launching into a series of kicks, a familiar move for someone who's spent hours and hours watching her train.]

[encryptedlock]

Calm down! [Luckily, he does know this routine well enough to block her kicks. Even so, it's a bit painful - both physically and emotionally.]

Would it really hurt you that much to let me keep them? Christ.

[youfallback]

Yes. [The longer she goes, the more frustrated she is with not being stronger. She's not working at 100%, even after a couple days of "rest." She's flagging quickly, even as she slides into the next step of the familiar dance. Her kicks slow and, as a last resort, she simply tries to reach in and snatch the dogtags again.

She can't let him have them. She can't let him see the name on those tags. Sure, when she'd believed she'd once been part of a happy family, that she had earned her position on the Project---

No, she had still earned it. She had fought tooth and nail for #1, she had thrown her life nearly away more than once to bring the Director's wishes about. If York saw her name, she's not sure what kind of destruction will be undoubtedly dealt to any respect or love he'd ever had for her.]

[encryptedlock]

[That admission almost makes him falter enough to miss the last block--but not enough to let him lose track of the necklace he's trying to protect. He's not fast enough to stop her grab, but he does think fast enough to jab out his own hand and twist it quickly around the chain so that when it snaps, he has enough of a grip on it not to let her have it.]

Why won't you listen to me? [Why doesn't she ever listen to him?]

[youfallback]

[Carolina barely holds in a breath of relief as she feels the chain snap and the tags move slightly toward her... only to be stopped by his fast instincts. She's so surprised, she can't hide the way it washes across her face. How did--- he's faster. He's had time to train and better himself in the Castle and she'd nearly forgotten. Still, she does have that grip and she fervently yanks on her end.]

I don't need to. [That and she won't believe a single word out of his mouth anyway.]

[encryptedlock]

[Of course she won't. If she had any common sense she'd have listened to him a long time ago.]

Funny how that's what got you hurt in the first place.

[He's not letting go, even though the chain is beginning to dig into his hands.]

[youfallback]

[Carolina would argue that trusting him at all is what caused her to fall behind, but she's too focused on the dogtags to voice anything like that. Instead, she goes for the easiest blow she can find.]

You hurt me in the first place.

[And yanks again, her grip loosening despite her best efforts. Her fingers are still tingling from only a minute or so before.]

[encryptedlock]

No. No, Jillian, I'm not the one who hurt you. [That much he's sure on, and as much as he knows the blood on his hands over the past week was from her, York was sure of one thing. Maybe there was more he could have done to halt her downward spiral, but the only ones who had hurt her were herself--and the Director.

He yanks the dogtags forcefully back.]

Come on, you practically threw the lighter at me. How is this any different than that?

[youfallback]

You chose her. You turned on the Project. You deserted. [Which she remembers happening in the Castle too. More than once. But she doesn't have time to dwell on it right now. Instead, she gives the dogtags another yank.] Give them back.

[encryptedlock]

[He yanks them one more time and if neither of them give ground, the chain's going to snap from the pressure soon.]

I chose myself. it was a toxic environment in there, Carolina, and if I'd stayed Maine only would have found me that much quicker. You should have trusted us, your team, but you never listed to a goddamn word we said. not when it clashed with whatever your precious Director had to say.

[youfallback]

You weren't my team anymore. [She snaps back at the moment that the chain does give. However, just as it does, her fingers can't hold on any longer and both tags and the ring fall down onto the ground between them.]

[encryptedlock]

[York drops to the ground to try to catch them with a surprising alacrity, though if she's just as fast she'll probably reach them first as she's slightly closer.]

[youfallback]

[Carolina's just a blink of an eye slower, but she still tries. Her hand snaps out for the tags, just to close around empty air.

And the moment her fingers close around nothing, her heart drops out of her chest, clawing through her intestines as it goes.]

[encryptedlock]

[York keeps a deathgrip on those dog tags now and looks up at her, hurt still in his eyes.]

We wanted to be. But you weren't willing to compromise for us when we needed you. And then--then we couldn't be there for you when you needed us.

[youfallback]

I never needed you. [Carolina goes still, absolutely rigid as she clenches her jaw and glares down at him. Hate pours off every sharp angle of her posture. In her mind, he had turned his back first. She had done everything, given everything, and they had deserted and lied and stole, York included. Her memories of the Castle only augment the sense of betrayal at the moment.

He had told her time and time again that he wouldn't give up, that he wouldn't leave, that she was important to him. Turns out he had lied and Texas had taken someone else from her.]