forum 𝙵𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚛𝚎, 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗. // 6/6 // CLOSED

Started August 25, 2022 by @EtherealDreamer

tune

"Unfortunately, we don't have ice right now," Alastor replied, frowning at the meager supplies they had. "But if there's a Wal-Mart close by then we should be able to get more food. And a blender if they have one."

Lucky stepped over to the fridge and opened the freezer. There was no power, of course, and all the frozen foods were thawed, similar to the raspberries Liam ahd found. "You're not gonna be able to find ice either, without a working freezer." It was kinda sad, but…
They were in the apocalypse, after all.

(Would you guys hate me if I killed off Lucas?)

(I mean, your character, your call, but. Would you put in a new one?)

Liam nodded and rested his head on Alastor's arm. "That makes sense." he said slowly, trying to find another solution. "What if we…" he trailed off into thought.

"What if we what?" Alastor asked, looking at Liam in surprise. He wasn't used to people resting on him, but he didn't move his arm away either. "Finding a store with electricity seems like the best solution right now."

"Might help us a lot of ways, cuz the only places that would have electricity right now would be running off of automatic generators, and if we could find one of those… it would solve several of our problems." Lucky's mind was spinning on all the things they could do with a generator. It would be a huge help.

"I was hoping I would come up with something before i finished saying it." Liam said looking up at Aly. "And finding a generator would make an enormous difference." He said to Lucky, smiling.

(Would you guys hate me if I killed off Lucas?)

(I mean, your character, your call, but. Would you put in a new one?)

(yes, but also im debating the whole 'killing off Lucas' thing because I love him—)

(Again, we'll leave it to you, although, if hes sick, hes gonna get avoided like the literal plague!)

Lucky nodded at Liam, his eyes lighting up as he thought about it. "And if we could find a mobile one, or even just a cart or trailer, we could pull it behind the truck easily enough. I think the truck had a hitch." He headed for the front door to check.
He opened the door, but stopped short when he saw Ariella checking on Lucas. Ronni was standing there, looking worried.

And Lucas didn't look good.

"…..What's wrong?" Lucky asked, suddenly very serious.

(Again, we'll leave it to you, although, if hes sick, hes gonna get avoided like the literal plague!)

Lucky nodded at Liam, his eyes lighting up as he thought about it. "And if we could find a mobile one, or even just a cart or trailer, we could pull it behind the truck easily enough. I think the truck had a hitch." He headed for the front door to check.
He opened the door, but stopped short when he saw Ariella checking on Lucas. Ronni was standing there, looking worried.

And Lucas didn't look good.

"…..What's wrong?" Lucky asked, suddenly very serious.

Lucas waved a hand and coughed lightly into his shoulder.
"I think I might have to leave you guys." He said in a small voice. "I don't know if I have the flu, but if I do, I'm sure no one would want to be around me, though it's not contagious, or at least, I don't think it is."

He slid down into a sitting position.
"I think I might have a cold." He said weakly and closed his eyes as he tilted his head back.

"we could always put a generator on the back of the truck." she shrugged, "that would be the best bet in my opinion, easy to move, and uh… yeah" She wasn't really paying attention. "where's Dev? he's smartish"

"Then we'll try to find a generator as soon as possible," Alastor said, smiling a bit at the thought they had a plan now. He took a quick peek out of the kitchen and his smile softened when he saw Zeus and Devon.
"My dog has chosen your brother as a pillow and they're both asleep," he answered June, still watching the two of them. It was a pretty adorable sight to see.

Ariella pursed her lips. She checked his ears, his throat. She used a stethoscope to listen to his heart. She grabbed her thermometer to check his temperature. She leaned back on her heels. "I wasn't at the hospital when it hit. I'm not 100% sure what to look for. I have medicine I can give to help ease the symptoms but there's nothing else to do but wait. It could easily be the flue or a common cold. Or…it could be something else. Well have to wait it out."

June smiled looking out the door, "If only I had a camera, he never lets his guard down this much" She sighed softly.

Ariella pursed her lips. She checked his ears, his throat. She used a stethoscope to listen to his heart. She grabbed her thermometer to check his temperature. She leaned back on her heels. "I wasn't at the hospital when it hit. I'm not 100% sure what to look for. I have medicine I can give to help ease the symptoms but there's nothing else to do but wait. It could easily be the flue or a common cold. Or…it could be something else. Well have to wait it out."

Lucas opened his eyes and nodded.
"Thanks," he said quietly. "I think I'll just leave you guys alone, you can go on without me tomorrow."
He shakily got into a standing position and gave the three of them a sad smile.

Ariella gave him a strange look. "We're not leaving you here alone, Lucas. We'll stay until you are better." She didn't say the alternative, though she knew it hung in the air. She shuffled through her back, finding a clean needle and some medicine. She filled the needle up and approached him once more.
"Give me your arm. This will help with any symptoms you may be feeling."

Lucky stepped towards her. "Wait a minute." He looked at Lucas for a long moment.
"I don't want him to suffer, but… We need him to feel his symptoms." He looked at Ariella. "If we mask what he's feeling, we won't know when he gets better or worse, or if the symptoms are consistent." He swallowed hard. "I can tell you what the flu looks like, if you need me to." He had vivid memories of his family dying from it.

Ronni watched Lucky. He was right, as much as she hated to make Lucas suffer.
She gestured at Lucas to come back, and pointed to all the doors the boys had opened. Stay in one of these, where we can keep an eye on you…

"Lucky, I'm a nurse. Or I was about to be. I worked in a hospital. I know what the flu looks like. I know what all sorts of things looks like." Ariella put her hands on her hips, looking at him impatiently. Gone was the shy, quiet girl that didn't want to talk to anyone. This was her field. Her profession. She transformed into the nurse that she was. Assertive, calm, attentive. She knew what to do if the person behind this character has no clue at all Ariella differently did.

Lucky just looked at her. "You literally just said you didn't work there when the flu came through, and you weren't sure what you were looking at. So let's let his symptoms run until you can better identify it."
He was standing between her and Lucas. It was important they be sure what they were seeing, and getting rid of his indicators was a bad idea.

Ariella looked annoyed at him. "I know what the regular flu looks like, before all of this. And I've heard enough about the flu that if it progresses enough I can identify it. But it's in the early stages right now. Without further development, there's nothing anyone can do. Especially without the right equipment. The best thing to do is to keep him comfortable and hydrated."
She tapped her foot. Right now, she didn't see a friend. She saw someone standing between her and her patient.

"You've heard about it. I've seen it, Ariella. I've watched it kill, and I'm not about to watch the rest of this group die because we hid his symptoms and didn't know to stay away." he said evenly. He could tell she was annoyed, but she'd been annoyed with him all day, and this was important.
Important enough for him to stay right where he was.

"And you're saying that I haven't. I have seen it. I watched a friend get sick. Fortunately, for them, they died by something else." Someone else. "I wasn't there for the beginning stages. Only after it had worsened. And while you're standing here arguing with me, my patient is sitting outside, in the sun for God's sake. Let's get him up and clear out a room for him. Grab him a glass of water to keep him hydrated. Someone will stay with him 24/7 to watch his symptoms. Either way it progresses, if comes unbearable, I will treat him. Whether it's a common cold, a virus, or the flu."

Lucky shook his head. "You said you hadn't, Ariella. Don't get mad at me for sticking to what you've said." He turned to look at Lucas again.
"Ronni is right, just stay in one of the rooms the boys opened. Take your pick."

Ronni stepped towards Ariella. She gestured at the needle and shook her head, before patting her chest and pointing at Lucas.
Don't mask his symptoms yet. I'll stay with him myself.

June smiled looking out the door, "If only I had a camera, he never lets his guard down this much" She sighed softly.

"Really? I thought he seemed pretty chill when I first talked to him," Alastor said, a little bit surprised. "Then again, I've only spoken to him once, so I wouldn't know."

"Okay, I'm telling you I've seen my friend sick enough that she was puking and could barely move and my other coworker put a bullet in her head afraid she was going to get us all sick." Ariella was getting frustrated. This is her job, was her job. She took care of sick people and injured people and all sorts of people. She knew what she was doing. "I don't know how it progresses or how it looks in early stages. But I know what it looks like when it has progressed too far. I'm trained enough that I can at least help with the side affects if they become to painful to bear. This is my job, Lucky. Let me do it."
Her hand traveled to her cheek as memories flashed before her eyes. She shook her head, trying to shake herself out of her head. No. She couldn't think those things. Not now. She needed to focus.

"Really? I thought he seemed pretty chilk when I first talked to him," Alastor said, a little bit surprised. "Then again, I've only spoke to him once, so I wouldn't know."

"well yeah, pretty chill, But he wasn't relaxed you know, he is now. Even though someone could attack him as he is out in the open, he trusts the group" She hummed, "I have known him for years, he's very… you know" she shrugged.

Lucky stepped towards her, his expression gentling. "I'm not telling you not to help him at all. I'm just saying not to hide his symptoms. This one specific thing."
He didn't say the other thing in his head. That if they couldn't be sure what was wrong with Lucas, the situation she just described would happen again. Except he would be the one to put the bullet in Lucas.

Ronni nodded quickly. Lucky wasn't trying to say they should leave Lucas to die, just…
We need to be able to see what's wrong with him…

Ariella didn't realize her hands were shaking until she went to pack up her things. She took several deep breaths, crouching down, and staring at the ground.
It was fine. Everything is okay. You're not there anymore. She repeated to herself several times until her body seemed to calm.
She didn't like it, not giving anything to Lucas. He was uncomfortable. She wanted to help him feel better. It was her nature. Do no harm, were her vows. Well, she had already broken those.