Roadrunners

[Paronomasia]

Role play between @Moogle and I.

It is the year 2148. Government have become insanely harsh and violent. Rules have become extremely strict, and the entire world is caught up. Two "dangerous" teenagers escape from a court-ordered, long term, corrupt Juvenile Confinement Facility during the distraction of a fire. They are being hunted down by the authorities. Their faces are plastered on everything; posters, newspapers, flyers, television, etc. How will they avoid being caught? How will they evade going back to the lying, abusive facility? What will they discover about each other, the world, and even themselves? Their journey is ready to begin.

Moogle's character:

Spoiler

Name: Alexis "Lexie" White
Age: 16
Personality: Lexie is generally outspoken, not too afraid of sharing her rather disturbing opinions with others, but stays solitude unless necessity requires otherwise. Her general attitude, however, is mixed. She's rational, but has a short fuse.


Paronomasia's character:

Name: Chloe Elaine
Age: 15
Picture and/or physical description (hair, eye color, etc.):

Spoiler

Hair color: blonde
Eve color: Hazel
Skin tone: White
Basic personality (nice, mean, shy, etc.): Chloe's very talkative, and she sometimes rambles way too much. She's extremely sarcastic, and she loves to play pranks. Other than her childish humor, she can be very serious when faced with serious matters.

 

[Paronomasia]

"Move it, scum!"

Chloe lurched forward as she was pushed by the guard behind her. "Hey, watch it!" She gasped, The guard replied by pushing her again. She looked around in the crowd of people. She didn't see anyone she knew or talked to frequently. She looked up, seeing that they were being herded towards the exit. Outside. We haven't been outside for... I don't even know. Chloe thought. She smiled at the thought of actual sunlight on her skin, not just what she could get from the small, highly placed windows. "Why're we going outside? What's going on?" She asked the guard.

"Why do you have to know?" The guard spat at her rudely.

"Why do you have to be a lil' bitch?" *Smack*. Okay. She deserved that. She looked around again, trying to find just one person she knew. All she saw were blurs of faces and, if she caught one, it wasn't anyone she knew.

She was pushed again. "Keep your head straight. Look forward."

Chloe did as she was told. They were almost at the door. She felt herself becoming extremely excited. Outside! Outside outside outside! She screamed in her head. Finally, she felt the heat on her skin. She felt a slight, warm breeze blow through her hair. She felt the biggest smile form on her face. She inhaled deeply and smelled-

Smoke? She whipped around. The building a couple over was ablaze. A fire! They had to evacuate because of a fire! Fitting, she thought. Fire DOES belong in Hell.

"HEY!"

Chloe jumped. The guard behind her took off running to break up a fight, finally leaving her alone. She began to look around, still trying to find a familiar face. She was surprised to find that, even though she'd been in the facility for a couple years, she couldn't find anyone she knew. She felt like she should know more people. She looked around at the neat lines that had already formed, including the one she was in. Everyone seemed to be enjoying the outdoors, as well.

But suddenly, a single thought dominated every other one she had. The thought, so complex yet so simple: Can I escape?

 

[iApollo]

With a small *clink* at her large grey solid steel door that indicated the lock being unlocked, Lexie stood up in her solitary cell.

She had been sent into solitary confinement due to having bitten a chunk of flesh off of a guy that she got into a fight with. She still had a small bruise on her right cheek from the event, but wore it with pride. The male that she'd gotten into a fight with was roughly four inches taller than she. The guy thought it was a wise idea to cut infront of her in the lunch line, that was a severe no-no. She had tackled the male and beaten him. Once the male started to fight back, Lexie began to bite at whatever she could so that she wouldn't lose the fight. Eventually she was pulled off nonchalantly by a few guards that had taken their sweet-ass time getting over to them. After all, "it would have just been one less inmate to worry about," she'd heard a guard say in response to the fight.

As she stood, her wrist chains and ankle shackles clanked while she made her way over to the door. It opened, and she was met with a younger looking guard. "Move it. Hurry up." He told her. Lexie found that he was alone and she let out a small chuckle. The air felt weird. Something was happening, that was for damn sure. She smelled smoke. A fire? They must be evacuating, she thought. Lexie was led by the guard for a few steps until she lurched forward and threw her arms over his head so that her wrist chains were infront of his neck. Without much effort at all, she jerked the chains back and crossed her arms so that they effectively restricted any sort of breathing that he could do. The male guard attempted to bring his hands up to remove the chains, but her grip was too hard. It took only a few seconds for him to pass out due to lack of oxygen, but she knew that he wasn't dead. Hell, she didn't care. She wasn't a murderer. Although, it was hardly murder whenever you were dealing with the corrupt scumbags that ran the correctional facility.

Lexie searched through the male's tactical belt and removed a set of keys to unlock her ankle restraints, she would keep the wrist restraints on so that she didn't look suspicious. She brushed off a bit of dirt from her orange jumpsuit that bore the letters 'JCCF' in bold. This stood for Jackson County Confinement Facility, the place that she'd been an inmate in for roughly a year now. All that she knew is that she wasn't going to be spending her seventeenth birthday locked up in this hell hole. The only thing on her mind right now was escape. She barely unzipped her jumpsuit, revealing a white undershirt, and dug into the undershirt, placing the keys into her bra. After this, she zipped it back up and looked around. She drug the guard away so that he was out of sight and then went to go join another line of people heading for the outside the facility.

After a short five minute walk, she felt her heart beating with anticipation. Thoughts of freedom and escape entered her head. O' how she wanted to be free and away from this shithole of a place. She stood in line. There was a sea of orange jumpsuits.... would anyone really notice if she were to just leave? If she were to just take off her jumpsuit and just book it, would anyone notice? The guards seemed to be on edge, pre-occupied, and careless. There were large white buses that were being used as mass transport units for the prisoners. The guards seemed to be occupied with getting the prisoners on. Surely they wouldn't notice if she were to just.... leave. But what options did she have?

Lexie examined her surroundings and searched for any potential escape routes. The facility was located in a secluded forested area. No one would notice if she were to just dart for the forest and never look back.... would they? She didn't think so. Lexie cleared her throat and surveyed her surroundings. No gurads were nearby. She was going to take her chance. After all, what would happen if she tried to escape anyway? A beating? More jail time? She was already in for a life sentence for something that she didn't even remember doing, and she was beaten pretty much daily by the guards. What difference would it make? She quickly darted out of the line and made a break for a large green dumpster nearby. Behind it, she disrobed from her orange jumpsuit and was now only wearing a shortsleeved white t-shirt, a pair of white shorts, her underwear, and white shoes. Lexie looked around the dumpster, she was clear still.

She removed the keys from her bra and unlocked her wristcuffs. Her hands raised and gently massaged her wrists before finally breaking out into a full-on sprint towards the forest to the easternmost side of the facility. She didn't know her way around. She would probably just be wandering around the forest until night time. From then on? She didn't know. She might die out here for all she knew. Whatever it was, it was better than being caged. She felt her heart beating with such intensity that it sounded like a bass drum was beating directly in her ears. Adrenaline flowed like blood through her veins. A few prisoners were staring at her completely wide-eyed, but their looks were out of her envy. A few others tried to make a break for it after seeing Lexie's successful run for the forest. Most of them were either shot by the guards with rubber bullets, or tackled on the spot. But it seemed that there was at least one other that was successful. Lexie didn't know this, however, but she did hear the firing of the rubber bullets and from past experience, she knew that she didn't want to be hit by one. They were non-lethal, but they hurt like hell and break bones.

After running for fifteen minutes, she was deep into the forest. She was breathing heavily and collapsed against a tree trunk, her head facing skyward as she tried to recollect her thoughts. She was free....almost.

 

[Paronomasia]

Chloe observed her surroundings. Around her were tall electric fences. She wondered if they worked. She glanced around. None of the guards were paying attention to her. She inched closer and closer to the fence, continually glancing behind to see if the guards were watching her. A couple of the prisoners looked on at her with curiosity, but the guards were all preoccupied still. She reached the end of the line. The fence stood a few yards away from where she stood. She quickly found something to throw at the fence, a small pebble. She tossed it and upon colliding with the chain links, a zzt noise was emitted. Shit. She though. It's on. She closed her eyes, trying to think of a way to get around it. If she could somehow cut the wires large enough, she could wiggle through without getting shocked. Once again, she looked around. But this time at the ground. A few lines over she saw a small, semi-sharp rock she could maybe use to cut through the wire. The lines were close together, so it wasn't hard to switch over, grab the rock, and return to her original spot.

The first thing Chloe did was rip off one of her sleeves. It wasn't hard considering the cheap, thin material the facility used, and it didn't matter to her, since she just wore the top half tied around her waist. She then tore off the other sleeve and wrapped them around her hands. She again checked for the guards. They were standing around each other, chatting. She bit her lip and looked towards the fence. If the guards looked her way while she was over there, she would be easily caught in the act. She took a deep breath and went for it.

She grabbed the fence and started sawing with the rock. Within ten minutes, click. The first link broke. About six minutes later, click. Second. Click. Third. She kept sawing. Her hands were tingling and beginning to numb and sting at the same time, but it wasn't too bad thanks to the cloth around her hands. She was halfway there. They had already loaded most of the lines into the buses, so she didn't have much time. She sawed with all her might. Only a quarter of the way left. She could do it.

"HEY! HEY YOU! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING OVER THERE, COME BACK!" Chloe jumped. She stood up from her crouch and flipped around.

"I'm uhh.... Looking at the birds! I haven't seen any in so long!" She yelled back at the approaching guard.

"Get back in your line! I don't care if you want to see the birds!"

"All right, all right." Chloe mumbled as she rejoined the line. Most of them were staring at her, seeing the cut fence. The line next to hers was ushered to the buses. A few guards were coming towards her line, ready to lead them to the waiting vehicles. If she was to escape, it had to be now. She made a break for the fence again, hearing the "HEY, STOP!" from the guards. Oh, she thought, you're telling me to stop. Darn, now I better stop because you told me to. She grinned to herself. She reached the fence and pulled apart the broken line she had created. It was much smaller than she had hoped. She dove through it, feeling herself get zapped. She yelped in pain, being electrocuted in various places. She was overwhelmed by the smell of burning flesh and clothes. Her waist and legs got the most of it, also getting caught and cut on the jagged links she had broken. But she got through. She got through! She was kinda mostly free! Her legs were numb and she briefly couldn't get up. The guards were coming at her. She scrambled up, but her legs couldn't support her and she fell. Trying again, she was successful.

She stood up and turned around. Another inmate was struggling through. He made it. He also had the problem of standing. She helped him up, but both of them were unable to get their legs to move. She finally felt the strength returning in her legs and she grinned again. She was about to be home free. The guards were now nearly at her, so she turned to sprint, stumbling still. She flipped around to the God forsaken place one more time, full of glee as she saw the guards stopped stupidly at the fence.

"HEEEEEEEEY!" She yelled at the guards, her voice showing how happy she was. "LOOK AT THIS LITTLE BIRDIE!"

She flipped them off.

With both hands.

She laughed, almost maniacally. She heard a laugh next to her, and saw the boy inmate running next to her. She smiled at him and he smiled back. Suddenly, his eyes widened. "Look!" He pointed to the side of her. She did as he said, and saw another group of inmates running free. She gasped and laughed again. She turned back to him and-

BANG.

He was shot. He fell and tumbled to a stop. Chloe screamed and pushed herself to run faster. Rubber bullets whirred past her. She looked again at the other group, and saw that most of them were already shot down.

BANG. Another one fell. BANG BANG. Two more. It was only her and another girl still going strong. The girl, slightly ahead of her, disappeared into the dense forest. She didn't know if the girl had seen her or if she even cared, but Chloe knew that if she survived, she'd want to find that other girl.

Aaaalmost.... ALMOST....

Chloe broke into the woods. She was free. She, Chloe Elaine, was free! She couldn't believe it.

She ran further to make sure they couldn't find her, then she collapsed onto the ground, tired and in pain. I need to find that other girl, it wouldn't hurt to have someone to travel with... But she couldn't bring herself to get up.

When I wake up, Chloe thought, I'll find that girl.

 

[iApollo]

Lexie, now sitting upright against a tree, began to relax. There was a cool mid-autumn breeze blowing through the forest, which carried along the a mildly sweet scent of.... something. Lexie couldn't put her finger on it, but she really didn't care to at the moment either. She must have been sitting there for at least an hour. The sun was high in the sky, and it would be nightfall soon. She didn't want to risk being eaten by animals, bugs, or whatever the hell else may be out here. She was honestly paranoid and terrified as to what could happen to her out here. There was probably a good reason why her parents had always warned her to never leave the city and venture into the outside world. She could remember hearing century old tales about little girls who got lost in the woods and all sorts of unlucky shit would happen to them. For instance, one found a wolf posing as her grandmother, the other came across an entire home of three bears, the other woke up in a cottage with a bunch of dwarves. She didn't want any of that to happen to her. Sure they were fairy tales and myths, but even myths and legends were based off of real events. Human imagination can only be pulled so far out of the realm of reality.

After a long thought process and being distracted, she realized that she had to keep moving. The forest was thick, and it would only go so deep before she was on the outside. That's all she was focused on. She had to get to the outside. Though, in her haste, she'd forgotten which direction she'd come from. All she could think of is how she didn't wnat to die out here. Lexie got up, letting out a deep sigh of frustration, and brushed her dirtied and bloodied legs off. The pale skin on her legs, specifically near the calf and lower thigh region, had been scraped through her careless running through the forest. A couple of twigs and thorns had managed to tear her legs up. They itched too and it was red and irritated. She must have come into contact with poison ivy or something. She shrugged her shoulders and made her way through the forest.

After a half hour of wandering, she came across a freshwater stream. She bent down and began to cup her hands at the stream and take sips out of her hands. She would spit off any dirt that would come into her mouth. After becoming fully hydrated once more, she decided that she might as well try and wash off. She disrobed, which didn't take much, the keys in her bra fell out as she took it off. She wasn't expecting anyone else in the forest, so she didn't mind being naked. Not to mention, she'd spent a fair while in the facility and she was used to being naked infront of other people. It was something that most other people, especially other girls, wouldn't be comfortable with. However, she didn't care too much. She held on tightly to the edge where the ground and the rather deep stream met. It was roughly four feet deep, so she was rather frightened as to what could be underneath the water. Even though her feet could technically touch the muddy floor of the stream, she didn't want them to touch. She'd risked it a single time and had frightened herself almost to a heart attack as her feet began to sink a little into the mud. It only took her about five minutes in the lukewarm stream to find out that she didn't feel like hanging around it for too long. Lexie washed herself and she was out of the water without a second's hesitation. She allowed herself to air dry, that taking all of ten minutes, before finally putting her clothes back on. She kept the key in her bra, not sure as to why she did, but she felt that it might be necessary. Maybe if she was caught out here, she would have a chance of getting out of any restraints they'd put her in.

At whatever rate, she traveled down the stream a bit further until she had come across a berry-bearing bush. It appeared to be something very similar to raspberries, but she wasn't sure exactly what it was. She picked a few, the first one tasting rather sweet and a little tangy. The next one, however, was unripened and tasted extremely sour and bitter. She immediately spat it out and continued to eat the other more full-grown berries. It was about a half hour of berry picking until her hunger was mostly satiated. She knew that she would be needing real food soon, but this would suffice until then.

 

[Paronomasia]

"AYEEEEEEEEEE-" Chloe screeched.

She jumped up, shaking off all the bugs that were crawling all over her. Bugs. Insects. Ew. She had forgotten about those. Collecting herself, Chloe breathed until her heart stopped racing. It amused her that she was more afraid of the bugs than the guards she had run from. She began to stretch and-

GrrrRRR...

"Eh..." Chloe groaned as she realized how hungry she was. She looked at the sun. It wasn't quite setting, but it was about to. Chloe realized she needed to find something to eat before it got dark. She looked around to see if there were anything she could use. Back when she was young, like 10-12, her family went camping all the time. They had lived in a very big city, and her parents liked to take breaks from that. She, her brother, and her parents would take a week off of school or work or anything and just go take a tent and get the rest from nature. Thanks to that, she knew she could survive. Kind of. It had been a loooong time. She needed a rock. She could sharpen it, get a stick, and fasten them together to make a spear or a knife. Finding the appropriate stones, she used one to shape the other. It was tedious work, but she finally made an acceptably dull-yet-still-sharp rock. Her dad had always done it for her, so it was her first time and she was pretty proud of herself. She took some twigs and a stick and fused the three items together.

She sat in silence, listening for any prey. She heard lots of wildlife and the thought that she can hunt them appeased her. But something worried her; She didn't hear any water. What was it her dad had said about that? Oh, yeah! He'd said something like, "Chloe, if you can't find water, find animal tracks. They'll lead you to some." There weren't any discernible tracks near her, so she decided to walk in uh... THAT direction for a while. She was pretty sure that she'd get to water before she'd get to food because her stomach was growling loud enough to scare all the animals away. While she was walking, she took in everything she could. The quiet loudness, the psithurism, the feel of the breeze, the warmth of the overhead sun, the serenity, the smells, everything. She remembered complaining about the trips a lot, she loved being a city girl. But now that even camping was banned by the government, she longed to go back to the days when she accompanied her family to the wilderness. She missed them. She missed them so much.

Wait, what are-

Chloe gasped as she stumbled upon, what, bear tracks? Honestly she didn't know, but she didn't care. She'd been walking for maybe two hours. She gripped her spear in excitement of what she'd find. She followed the tracks for about another hour and a half. Her mouth was as dry as cotton and her stomach felt like it was in a tight knot. She felt weak, but she pushed herself to keep going. She walked....and walked....and walked... and then, she heard the sound of trickling water. Water! Yes! She wanted to jump up and down, but she kept pursuing the sound instead. She emerged from behind a large bush to see a slow stream in front of her. She didn't even think before she jumped in. She gulped down water from her hands, probably swallowing lots of mud, but she didn't care. She laid down in it, letting it soak into her clothes. She stripped off her orange jumpsuit and white tank top, remaining in her bra and underwear. She washed them and laid them on a rock to dry. She was starving, so she decided to go hunting. She wanted to stay close, since it was getting dark. She walked slowly on the balls of her feet, trying not to make a sound, listening for any prey.

An opossum skittered by, then stopped at the stream to drink. Chloe snuck up behind it as quietly as possible. She raised her spear and froze when the possum's head shot up. It sniffed around and- SCHKK Chloe stabbed it. It let out one last squeak. "Awwwww!" Chloe gasped. "Baby, I'm so sorry!" She was sorry, but she was more hungry. She wrapped its tail around a branch and carried it with her, the possum hanging from it. She killed two more animals, another possum and a squirrel. She hung those off of her murder branch and headed back to her clothes. She re-dressed.

She didn't want to start a fire in somewhere that could be easily seen, so she headed behind some berry bushes she had seen a bit ahead of where she previously went. She started a fire on some branches, dry leaves, and twigs and used some more branches to create a place to cook the animals over the flames. The smell of the cooking animals made her stomach growl even more. What she didn't know was that maybe someone else could smell them, too.

 

[iApollo]

It was nearing close to night, and Lexie wasn't too happy that she'd be spending the rest of the night in the woods. Her heart was pounding hard with anxiety that she'd be left in the claws of the unknown. The rising moon wasn't going to provide much, if any, light at all. It was less than a crescent at this stage in its lunar cycle. Lexie cleared her throat and, with her eyes still skyward looking at the orange setting sun, she saw a rising cloud of black. That meant that there was either someone else, or the fire was spreading. At whatever rate, she figured that it would lead her to someone else. She decided to risk it and began to walk towards the source. Her white tennis shoes crunched against the leaves and occasionally snapped twigs underfoot. By no means was she walking stealthily, but it wasn't necessarily loud either. Soon, she heard the crackling of the fire and saw the faint glow. She hid behind a tree and examined the scene before her. It was a young female infront of a campfire. She could smell meat being cooked and felt her stomach grumble audibly in protest of her lack of eating.

She decided that she knew the female. Not much though. She'd seen the face around, probably talked to her once or twice as well. It was hard not to talk to some people when you're stuck with mostly the same faces for twenty-four hours a day. However, she couldn't think of the girl's name for the life of her. She knew that the girl wasn't one of her enemies though. However, she wasn't one of her allies either. Lexie had a makeshift list of people that she marked as potential allies or potential enemies if she were to ever get in a fight or cause trouble. The girl infront of her was neither. She had no idea how to approach her. She didn't even know the girl's name, but she felt that she could trust her.

Lexie took a few cautious steps forward and cleared her throat, however staying at a distance. She was on the opposite side of the fire, its warm glow managing to illuminate her face and warm her body. "Hey." She managed to squeak out. She hadn't talked or really even opened her mouth all day. She really hadn't talked to anyone in a week due to her solitary confinement. Although, plenty of others had done a lot of talking about her. She was the talk of the facility for a good week or two after the incident. Lexie's hair was still somewhat damp from her earlier swim. It was in a mid-back length ponytail. "I saw the smoke from the fire over by the stream- so you escaped too?" Lexie was cautious while she was talking to this girl, not sure of her reaction. Now that they were out in the woods, it was a free-for-all.

 

[Paronomasia]

Chloe waited as patiently as she could for the meat to cook. She moved closer to the fire, the night getting chillier. She regretted the decision to rip off the only long sleeves she had, but she knew it was necessary for her escape. In the light that was left in the sky and the fire that was burning in front of her, she checked out her injuries. She had lots of small scratches, many slight gashes that had stopped bleeding hours ago, two larger ones that were still slightly bleeding, and various electric burns that made her flesh bubble, bleed, and scorch. They hurt like hell. She looked up at the sky and observed the sky. She hadn't seen it at night at all. The prison's bright searchlights had drowned out the beautiful sunlight and stars. Seeing them made her so overwhelmingly happy. She was free. Free.

"Hey."

Chloe jumped up to a defensive position, ready to stab with her spear. As her eyes adjusted, she noticed the girl was the one who had gotten away from the prison with her. She kept the spear aimed at the girl. The girl didn't react. Chloe didn't know what the girl wanted, and she couldn't take the chance. She had wanted to be the one to approach the girl, when it was still light out.

"I saw the smoke from the fire over by the stream- so you escaped too?"

Chloe lowered her spear a bit. "I- ah, yeah. I did. I'm assuming you did, too. That or I drank some bad water. Or you're a ghost."

 

[iApollo]

Lexie, in her semi-blinded state from staring at the fire, hadn't even noticed her spear. Though, she cleared her throat uncomfortably at the sight of the make-shift spear. She had made much more dangerous weapons while incarcerated, but seeing a spear was definitely something that she wasn't quite sure how to react to. A straight razor, a shank, whatever- sure. But a spear? That would have just been comical inside of the facility. Either way, Lexie saw that the girl wasn't going to attack her, so she approached more. "I'm Lexie." The dark hair female announced as she rolled up a small log to sit ontop of. It wasn't comfortable, but she didn't want to sit on the ground. There were bugs down there, and she wasn't too fond of them. Her cell at the facility was often invaded by a few roaches, but that was it. However, out here? It was anyone's guess as to what could crawl all over her.

Sitting close to the fire, she hugged herself tightly in attempts to keep her warmth. The night was getting colder. She knew that it would be the end of autumn and the beginning of winter soon. Winters were unforgivable around here. They were cold, harsh, and dry. While in the day she would have enjoyed any breeze she could get, at night she cursed the damned cool wind that shook the branches of the trees overhead. "Who are you?" Lexie wasn't used to casual conversation. She never was, and her time inside the facility hadn't really sharepened her social skills at all. If anything, it hindered them. She'd stopped talking her way out of things and instead fought her way out of things. She fought ruthlessly, quite literally fighting with both tooth and nail. Whatever the case, she was out of that place now. It was time to adjust and adapt. That's what humans were about....right? Evolving to suit their surroundings. She rolled her shoulders to loosen them up. Her entire body was rather stiff.

The cooking food infront of her was looking more and more appetizing. Her stomach growled audibly and she embarrassedly rubbed it in attempt to tell it to "shush." She wasn't going to try and steal this girl's food. Nor was she going to impose and ask for it. She just wasn't really like that. If she was in the prison, she wouldn't have had a second thought. But now she wasn't. She had to adapt to her surroundings. That was something she was hammering into her head. Athough, the girl seemed almost defenseless. However, there was no way that Lexie could fight the girl while she was in her weakened state from hunger. Not to mention, the girl had a weapon- Lexie didn't. Any advantage was always worth considering. However, Lexie didn't want to fight. She needed an ally, not an enemy. Not a body. She needed someone to help her. The girl seemed to know what she was doing if she had food.

 

[Paronomasia]

The girl seemed to make herself at home, taking advantage of the warmth of the fire. Smart girl, Chloe thought, Now's the time for survival, not shyness. Chloe lowered her spear and sat down, but she still held onto her weapon. She knew that if she tried to attack the girl, it would maybe do a little damage, but it would more than likely break after a few jabs. Anyways, she wasn't about fighting. She would only hurt if necessary. If she were to be attacked first, that would cue her to fight back.

"I'm Lexie," The girl said. "Who are you?"

Chloe opened her mouth, about to respond, but then the girl's, er- Lexie's stomach growled very loudly. Apparently she hadn't had much luck with food. She glanced at the cooking meat over her fire. She looked up at Lexie, and saw she was doing the same. She was staring at the food hungrily. She looked as if she were trying extremely hard not to just grab and gobble it all up.


"Hey," Chloe said, softly. "I've got enough here. I was planning on eating one and saving the other two for emergencies, but I can part with another. I've already skinned and gutted them, so once they're cooked through, you can have one." She planned on being friendly to Lexie. Like she had thought earlier, it would be nice to have a companion to travel with. Someone to talk to. One can get a bit loopy when they're alone for too long. Weeks of solitary confinement had proven that for her. When the guard came to take her back to socialization, she'd always wanted to kiss him. Obviously, she didn't, because he was a monster.

"Anyways, nice name, Lexie. Mine's Chloe." Chloe offered nicely. If the girl was attempting to be friendly, Chloe was going to deliver back. Her parents had taught her manners. Even if they were both prisoners of a sort and lost in the wilderness, she wasn't going to just drop them. Plus, she loved making friends! She'd made so many over the three 1/2 years she'd been in the facility. Just about everyone knew her. It was strange for her when she met someone she DIDN'T know. She was kind of excited to have an opportunity to make another one. She smiled kindly at Lexie.

 

[iApollo]

The girl, now revealed to be named Chloe, seemed to be acting very kind. While Lexie was very thankful for her friendliness, she was also sickened by it in the same breath. Kindness had always been seen as weakness inside the facility. However, she decided not to say or do anything to display her disgust. "Thank you.... er.... Chloe. That's very kind of you." Lexie said with a small smile. The smile was involuntary, it was also a foreign feeling. She hadn't smiled in forever. It felt almost uncharacteristic of her. Whatever the case, she hugged herself tighter. It was continuing to get colder, and she could only get so much closer to the fire before she was actually on fire.

As the meat finished cooking, she reached out and grabbed it. It almost immediately burned her hands and she dropped it onto her lap, which didn't fare much better. "Oww! Damn it!" She swore and shook her hands to cool off. She held the meat with the loose bit of her shirt so that some of her belly was exposed. This way she wouldn't be burned, and the meat wouldn't get dirty. She waited for it to cool off before beginning to tear chunks away of what was the squirrel. It didn't taste amazing, but it definitely did fill her belly. After leaving only bone and very miniscule bits of meat on the bone, she tossed it into the fire.

Lexie had no idea what to do now. She'd eaten, it was night time, and she was tired....but she didn't want to sleep out in the woods. Bugs would cover her. She could be found. Anything could happen. She decided to try to make an agreement of some sort with Chloe. "So uh.... do you want to take turns sleeping? Police could come searching, animals could come and try to mess with us. Plus, someone's going to need to keep the fire going. Do you want to sleep first?" Lexie offered with the small smile resuming its form at the corners of her mouth.

 

[Paronomasia]

Chloe tried not to laugh when Lexie had trouble with the meat. She bit her lip to keep from bursting out, resulting in a strange looking, crooked grin. She grabbed a thick leaf off of the bush to hold the meat with. She was extremely starving, so she gobbled down the meat despite it burning her mouth and throat. Between bites, she kept muttering stuff like, "Ranch dressing... barbecue sauce... spices..." She felt weird, the hot meat warming her on the inside, but the cold wind chilling her on the outside. Once again, she scooted closer to the fire, close enough to keep getting burned by random flying embers. Chloe grabbed some leaves and did the best she could to wrap up the remaining opossum.

She smiled at Lexie. "If only the priso- er, facility provided long sleeved white shirts instead of only t-shirts and tank tops. Then again, we're not really meant to be outside, so they didn't think about it." The other girl nodded. Chloe wasn't sure if she agreed or was just being polite, but frankly she didn't care. At least she wasn't just talking to herself.

Lexie proposed that they take turns sleeping. Chloe thought that sounded like a great idea. Until she proposed that Chloe sleep first. Chloe didn't really trust the girl yet. Sure, she seemed friendly and Chloe was also being friendly, but that didn't mean anything trust-wise. The girl could just be feigning niceness to get Chloe to feel safe, then murder her or something. I mean, she did come from a teenage prison. Chloe didn't know her or what she had done, let alone what she was capable of. She seemed to not know wilderness or how to hunt, but that didn't mean she didn't know how to be wild or how to hunt humans.

"Umm... I'm not tired. I don't think I could sleep. I already slept for a few hours when I first got here. How about I take first shift. I don't mind, really."

 

[iApollo]

"Yeah. Even then, I doubt the cunts would do anything that would provide us with any sort of comfort regardless." She said after a small bit of silence.

Lexie cleared her throat uncomfortably at the mention of her sleeping first. She knew that she wouldn't be getting much sleep at all, but she shrugged her shoulders. The other girl seemed to be a bit nervous, despite Lexie's lack of aggression, but she completely understood. Lexie didn't trust Chloe, but she definitely didn't distrust her either. There wasn't enough time to distrust. They both seemed bent towards survival, and she severely doubted that food would be shared if Chloe was intending on hurting her. Lexie hesitantly nodded and laid down near the fire. She was far enough to keep from being hit by stray embers, but close enough to be warmed completely. Lexie undid her ponytail and allowed her raven-colored hair to flow freely before finally curling up into the fetal position and holding her arms close to her body with her balled fists serving as a pillow.

It didn't take her long at all in her exhausted state to actually fall asleep. She wanted to trust the girl, but didn't completely, but knew there wasn't a point in not trusting her so the comfort of her supposed safety helped her get to sleep. She slept peacefully for an entire four hours before finally waking up. The sun hadn't even begun to rise. She brushed off a few insects that had started to crawl onto her, and then her eyes began scanning for Chloe. Lexie was still alive, which was great, so she knew that she could trust Chloe now. If Chloe wanted to kill Lexie, she for damn sure would have done it by now. So it seemed to not be the case.

 

[Paronomasia]

Lexie agreed to sleep first, which made Chloe kind of glad, because it meant she at least trusted Chloe to the point of not killing her. She waited patiently by Lexie's side, ready to stab anything that threatened them... for like ten minutes. Chloe got bored. She got so bored that she decided she needed to entertain herself. Chloe had a reputation for playing 'pranks'. One time, she slowly pulled off one of the night guard's belt whenever he made his round next to her cell. She then threw it in the other direction, causing him to run towards the noise, his pants slipping off and making him trip. Another time, she tied a guard's shoelaces together. Obviously, he tripped, too. One that she was especially proud of was when she used the gross spaghetti sauce to fake a stabbing. She took a broken shiv and made it look as if the broken half was actually stuck inside her and the sauce looked like blood. She had screamed, fallen on the floor, and pretended to have a seizure. The guards were freaking out, unsure of what to do. Then, she stood up and said "I need to go to the bathroom." and walked away. She got three days of solitary confinement for that one.

Chloe was the type of person who always needed stimulation. She decided to go stimulate herself. Ew, no, stop thinking like that, you're gross! Anyways, Chloe went off a bit into the woods. She found an appropriate tree and climbed up it. She went as far as she could go without breaking the branches. She looked up, gazing at the stars. They were so much more beautiful than she remembered. She smiled to herself as she made shapes and pictures out of the stars. She couldn't see a lot through the thick leaves of the tree, so she tried to climb a bit higher. She warily climbed up a few more branches, afraid she might be going too far. She reached to grab another branch, and it turned out to be bendy. Chloe gasped and nearly fell. She had expected it to be solid. She regained balance and examined the branch. She grabbed it again, finding that it was pretty pliable.

Suddenly, she had a great idea. She went to retrieve her spear from where she'd left it leaning against the trunk of the tree and climbed back up. She used the rock of the spear to saw the branch off. She found another one just like it and sawed it off as well. She relocated to the ground again, scouting for a thick, unbreakable branch. After a few rejects, she finally found the right one. She again went searching, this time for a low hanging branch on a tree that could support a person. It wasn't too hard, and she tied the bendable branches around the branch attached to the tree. She made sure the knots were sturdy, then she tied the unattached branch to the two now hanging bendy branches. She smiled to herself and hoped that her idea would work. She turned around, took a breath, and sat on her newly made swing. She let out a gleeful laugh and kicked off. The swing swung uncertainly, but it still worked.

She knew that her father could have made a better one, he'd done it before. She was pretty happy that the swing could support her weight now, as it had when she was a little girl. She swung back and forth and gazed at the stars. She occasionally went back and re-stoked the flames for Lexie. The campsite was still in her view, so she could keep an eye on things. She only had to chase off one curious raccoon, but the night was pretty silent other than that. Chloe spent the entire lookout time swinging, gazing, lost in memory.

 

[iApollo]

Lexie looked around the campfire once her eyes had finally adjusted and was surprised to not find Chloe anywhere in sight. Where the hell is Chloe?! She was supposed to be watching while I slept....ugh. But seriously though? Did something happen? After a solid three seconds of freaking out, Lexie managed to calm herself by telling herself that she probably wouldn't still be alive if something had happened to Chloe. Lexie decided that Chloe must have simply gone wandering about- probably hunting or entertaining herself. Lexie felt that Chloe had the attention span of a fly. She wanted to get up and look for Chloe, but she wouldn't know where to look. She heard noises off to the right of where she was sitting, it sounded like the strained sound that a rope would make when it was being stressed by another force. In reality, it was Chloe's makeshift swing. Lexie stood up but immediately felt dizzy and fell down. There was a queasy feeling in her stomach as she grimaced and turned around behind her and immediately threw up.

It wasn't much, she hadn't eaten much after all, but that squirrel didn't sit well in her stomach. Her body wasn't used to this kind of food. That, or the meat hadn't been fully cooked or something. She didn't know. It was a rodent, and in all honesty she shouldn't have eaten it. But what other option did she have? She had the option of foraging for berries for hours....or she could take a free meal from an overly-hospitable ex-inmate. Her body felt cold now. She was definitely getting sick from the food, and being outside in the cold weather wouldn't be great for her at all. She tried not to groan too loudly as to not indicate Chloe of her weakness, she didn't need pity or worse....abandonment. Was it a selfish thought? Sure. But it was her mind adapting to survive. Lexie crawled closer to the campfire and hugged her knees tightly as she tried to get the warmth of the fire to envelope her. Eventually, she finally did warm- but there was an empty and sick feeling still present in her stomach. She probably wasn't going to get rid of that any time soon. In all honesty, she just wanted to go to sleep and wake up from this nightmare. This year long nightmare. Ugh. She couldn't stand it. She just wanted to wake up in her room.... with her parents.... in her nice and comfortable bed. Hell, she wouldn't even mind going to school at this point. She just wanted something other than this.

 

[Paronomasia]

Chloe sighed happily. She loved the outside world. Even though she was a born and raised city girl, anything out of the facility was great to her. She had spent nearly four years without proper sunlight. She swung on her swing and breathed in the fresh air. She wanted to enjoy it while it lasted, for she was planning on asking Lexie to move forward with her, into the city. Shelter, running water, and transportation awaited them there. They couldn't stay in the forest forever, to Chloe's disappointment. She knew that come morning, dogs and police and guards would be swarming the forest searching for them, if they weren't already. They had to act fast, or else they'd be caught and imprisoned again. Anyways, she didn't mind the city, she kind of missed it, although that's where a bunch of shit went down for her. Good shit and bad shit. She didn't want to think about it though, her old life was gone. She hoped.

Chloe looked at where the campsite was. She could barely see it. She realized she hadn't stoked the fire in a while and she got up to do so. Suddenly, she stopped.

Grr...

Chloe slowly turned around.

Grrrrrrrr.....

What was that? She squinted to see. A shape began to take form. It looked like an animal, bigger than a rodent, but smaller than a bear. Maybe it was a baby bear? No, it would be hibernating by now. The creature slowly stepped forward, into the illuminating moonlight...

It was a dog!

"Hey, there!" Chloe gasped. It looked wild. "Hey, buddy! Hey, I've got some extra food at the camp, you want to come get it with me, huh? Sound good? Yeah?" Chloe warily stepped forward and the dog hunched over, also cautious. She reached out a hand to let the dog sniff it. The dog did so, and then nuzzled Chloe's hand. It seemed friendly enough, not rabid, just skinny.

"Come on, hun! Let's get you some food, baby! C'mere, sweetie!" Chloe led the dog slowly towards the camp. Apparently, the dog smelled the leftover meat, and it sprinted the rest of the way to the site, ahead of Chloe.

"Hey, wait!" Chloe yelled after it. She didn't want it to frighten Lexie, or worse, hurt her in excitement for the food. She stumbled over a branch and tripped, scraping her knee. "Ow, fuck!" She scurried up and took off after the dog, hoping Lexie would be okay. It had seemed friendly enough, but it was hungry, and Lexie was unprepared and unaware. "Dog! Come back!"