[sylvanSpider]

Yoruba squeezed the bridge of her nose, shaking her head, “Fine, fine. You're right, you're right. I surrender. The blame is on you, then.” Emily remained silent, her eyes staring straight ahead. Her mind was in a place where Victor still was, cracking DnD jokes and crouching to pat Max on the head. The dog whined then, as if on cue, and nudged Emily's hand with his snout. Her eyes moved, and she attempted a smile for the dog's sake and moved to scratch, as if in Victor's stead. “I'm glad we can at least agree on that,” Yoruba said in regards to their expectations.

When she and Yoruba were alone, Yoruba took the opportunity to own up to her mistakes there as well and sat down beside her, back against the wall. The small shed had a window and light spilled in through it's gap, the tattered remnants of a curtain fluttering in the breeze. The warmth on Emily's cheek did nothing to warm her disposition, the very core of her being cold. “I'm...sorry about what I said about Victor,” Yoruba said, breaking the silence, “It's not...it's not him I have a problem with. I mean, yeah, I wasn't fond of the guy, but I knew he'd never hurt either of us – me or you. I trusted him. I don't know why I said what I did. Something about that woman woke up the worst parts of me I guess. I'll do better next time.” Admitting defeat was never easy for a woman like Yoruba. She was pig-headed. Intelligent, but stubborn and by the time she realized she was on the wrong road, she'd be too far down to turn around, so she'd ramp the gas up.

Emily knew this and looked at Yoruba through the sides of her eyes, not bothering to shift her head. She let the silence grow for a while, resting in the moment of the apology. It wasn't often that this happened. Still, an apology could never actually retract the words and the empty space in her chest ached, “I'm not...not gonna say it's alright. Because it isn't. It just isn't. Anna was right; he wasn't here to speak for himself. Please, just...let him rest. But, Yoruba...it will be okay, alright? Don't stress, please, we need to be as strong as ever to make up for his absence. You said it yourself, you can trust him. We can't...trust Anna just yet. Everything in me wants to, but for the time being we just can't. Especially with how quickly she changed her mind in the beginning. I can't trust her.”

Yoruba nodded, lifting her eyes and stopping mid-sentence when she heard the door's clasp unlock. “Thanks. We could use the sustenance,” Yoruba said when she saw that Emily was once again in that dream world. Victor's death was not going to be easy to overcome.

[TheFabledBiscuit]

Anna didn't say a word to the two as she dug through Victors pack, she pulled out the fresh meat he had caught the prior day and paused while making sure it was still good. "This can't be more than 2 days old..." she sat silently for moment eyeing the carefully cut meat portioned into rations for his previous party. She took the meat out placing them on a hot skillet and added her own sides to go with.
She watched Yoruba work keeping out of the woman's way she seemed to not be all words working with the pieces she provided quickly, and even producing some results from the tests she ran.
It would be best in her mind if she just avoided any confrontation with Yoruba at the moment, they seemed to disagree on a variety of things and instead chose to take a seat next to Emily who had not spoken much since arriving.
Max growled at the woman, not too fond of Anna as well, the husky had laid next to Emily since arriving, he had remained quiet for the most part other than the soft whining every now and then.
"How.. - - how long did you know Victor for?" Anna asked not making eye contact after the question. She slid a plate of food towards Emily keeping her attention on Max. "You should eat, this was probably caught the day I ran into you all." Anna brushed her hair out of her eyes as she spoke hoping she could make some sort of peace before venturing out.

[sylvanSpider]

Yoruba kept with the mode of silence, barely making a sound as she went through the various parts to see what she had to work with. Likely, she'd have to rummage through cars and the like to pick up more parts, but if she could form the base of whatever would come of it. The tension was thick in the air, Yoruba pensive at her having to admit defeat, and Emily broken from the recent death. She picked up a few specific parts, rearranging them by category so she could take stock of what they had. Things were looking bleak. There would not be much ammo unless she could find a way to turn more common finds into it, but she'd be able to create a few flash pods, at the very least. Still, she was worried about time. One day was not going to be enough time, and she hoped Anna realized that. She'd tell her, but she hated her.

Emily's hand rest on Max's head, giving his favorite spot behind the ears a scratch whenever he whined, but her eyes stared straight ahead. She only was shaken out of her revery when Anna came to sit down beside her. “A month, maybe two. The exact date is in his journal,” Emily responded, voice soft, barely audible, and cracked. She'd spent the past while trying not to cry – and she'd failed. A tear slid down her cheek and she shook her head, “But since I met him, we'd been inseparable.” She mustered a smile, running a hand through her hair, “He actually caught my lame ass jokes.” Her eyes drifted to the last bit of meat that Victor caught and she sighed, looking back down, “I'm not really hungry.”

[TheFabledBiscuit]

Anna glanced towards Yoruba's work while Emily spoke, she only hoped the junk there would be more useful to the woman than herself, she had wasted a good portion of supplies trying to experiment herself to no avail. She returned her attention to Emily for the time being who seemed to be affected the hardest from her brothers passing. She flipped through Victors journal a small itch of curiosity filled her when she mentioned the entry.
"Seems like you made a pretty heavy first impression on him... don't think that's ever happened before, he usually just kept to himself, didn't even look twice when a woman gave him attention" Anna avoided eye contact as Emily spoke, nodding solemnly as she continued speaking.
Anna sat silently for a moment in thought she felt bad for the girl in front of her, Victor's death impacted her as well but this was on different terms for the girl seated in front of her.
"I hate to try and force it, but its obvious the meat was caught for the three of you, it'd be a shame if the last thing he did went to waste.. plus you'll need your energy, if we're caught in a bad spot, exhaustion will be the death of you and as much as that seems not to matter, it really does. She returned her attention to Max who seemed as distraught as Emily, the dog didn't even seem to care of Anna anymore, though he'd let out a growl if she approached too closely to his master.
She left the plate next to Emily, feeling as the conversation was well over and finished, the morale in the cabin had gone gloom almost to the point that a person could choke in the uneasiness that rested above their heads. Anna kept herself busy, sharpening blades as well as sorting rations out, eventually even that was becoming a chore. She sighed taking down a bottle of liquor and downed several shots as she daydreamed staring out the window towards the city.

[sylvanSpider]

Just because Yoruba was occupied with her activities did not make her oblivious to the conversations going on around her. Pre-Reckoning days, she let herself get completely absorbed in her work, music blaring. Now, however, she worked hyperaware of every noise that went on about her, including the conversations. She worked quickly, having formulated a brief mental plan and wrote out some of the more complicated bits, complete with a diagram and measurements.

Emily tried to muster a smile, “I didn't really give him much of a choice. After I found out he had Max, I was going to leave so he might as well get used to my presence. The rest is...was...history.” Again, she could feel that too familiar lump forming in her throat and she bowed her head. “Truth was, I was lonely. Sure, I was surviving traveling the east coast wastelands, but I wasn't living. I needed a friend and then I found Victor...”

Yoruba swallowed, pausing what she was doing for a moment. She should have been more kind to Victor. But what was done was done. Victor was gone, and she, like Emily, would need to move on. Before the other two ladies could tell that she was eavesdropping, she resumed, her mind busy with the project at hand and the parts of Emily's life that she hadn't been there for. How different would things be if she hadn't fucked up so royally with Payali?

Emily looked down at the plate and sighed, “You're right. Won't last a day in Denver if we're not properly fed.” She cut off a piece with her pocket knife and took the bite, willing herself to chew. “Yoruba, you finding anything?” she mustered, doing her absolute best to stay on a neutral subject that wouldn't bring her to tears again.

“I've got layouts of a couple new things made up. But I don't think we'll be ready to go into Denver tomorrow. I'll need at least one more day. Tomorrow, if you'd be willing, could you and Anna see if you could catch anything? We'll need to overstock on food because we don't know what we'll be up against when we get in there. Also, some of the cars along the freeway will probably have guns or ammo. We'll need to do a thorough search if Anna hasn't already.”

[TheFabledBiscuit]

Anna fell silent as Emily spoke before rising to her feet.
"I should have waited for a better time to get involved, we were making quite a bit of noise, maybe if I hadn't showed up when I did that insane man wouldn't have found us." She closed her eyes in respect for the memory of Victor for a moment before turning to Yoruba.
"Most of the cars I already looted, I've been laying low in this area for quite some time now, however, fish and food should be plenty to come by.. we'll just have to be extra careful when we embark towards the city."
She nodded to Yoruba's comment, she figured it wouldn't be entirely ready to leave immediately with what she had requested, entering that city would be no easy task after all. She wasn't even sure if it would be enough to ensure their survival in the end.
"Sounds good to me, I don't mind doing some extra trapping and fishing beforehand. Are you up to it Emily?"
She turned to Emily who seemed to be lost in her thoughts again. She bit her lip wondering if it were even worth asking the woman to tag along, both of the women probably blamed her for causing Victor's death, if it would be a few more days until they set off towards Denver then over rationing seemed to be the smart move.
"If you'd like I can show you some prime fishing spots, as well as trap placements, I haven't gone hungry here since I've arrived, probably the biggest reason of why I decided to stay."
Anna stroked her own hair nervously as she waited for Emily's answer.

[sylvanSpider]

Emily clenched her fists, shaking her head and looked down. “No,” she said, “No. This isn't your fault. That insane man would have found us whichever way you look at it. If it didn't happen then, it would have happened later.” If one listened closely, they'd notice the slight tremor in Emily's voice, and the undertones of anger and regret, “He's been hunting us since we were back East. Some sicko is paying him to take me back to marry him. What the hell he sees in me is beyond me, but the fucker threatened to kill Victor before. It might be part of the reason he left the rest of us alive. Women aren't a threat to him, apparently.”

Yoruba looked up from her drafting, turning to Emily, “You never told me any of this.” Her lips were pressed into a thin line and Emily could see that her fists were clenched.

“I thought he gave up. Victor and I left, we got far away and we thought he was gone forever. I was wrong,” Emily bowed her head. Yoruba stopped what she was doing and moved over, placing a hand on her shoulder.

“No. None of us can be blamed for Victor's death okay? None of us but that insane man. He'll get his. You'll see. He shows his ugly mug again, we'll kill him. If neither of you want to, I'd be happy to do the honors,” Yoruba muttered. “For now, go hunting with Anna. It might help clear your head.”

Emily nodded slowly, biting her lip, “Alright. Alright, I'll go. It's probably best we go in over stocked than under.”

“Damn right.”

[TheFabledBiscuit]

"Hunting you? Why didn't you just set a trap and take him out yourself?" Anna asked before clasping a hand over her mouth, she didn't mean to put Emily on the spot, instead speaking without thinking first as usual. "I mean... I'm sorry... I'm sure there's a good reason it wasn't possible..."
Anna's face flushed with guilt as she desperately tried to think of a way to change the subject though her mind couldn't seem to grasp at anything but the man who shot Victor.
"Was he always so... insane? He had men with him, why would anyone travel with somebody so... unstable." she tapped her chin in wonder before shaking her head standing to her feet.
"If we're going to overstock there are only two places I can think of that will be overflowing with fresh fish, as well as bag us a large kill."
Anna opened the door and pointed in off to a small path not far from her cabin for Emily to follow. "That'll be the path we take, made it myself, You going to be alright by yourself?" She watched Yoruba return to her work wondering if there was even a point to asking, she was more than likely thrilled Anna wouldn't be bothering her any longer today.
The dead leaves crunched under her feet as she followed Emily, she fell silent unsure of what to ask the woman, the husky stayed at her side though one could easily tell it was still in distraught over Victor. The cold air made her shiver as she rubbed her hands together trying to regain feeling into them as they made their way to a decent sized river.
"If we can makeshift some sorta net, an hour or two in the water should catch us plenty of food, we can also try to take out a doe if you'd like. A little variety could be nice."

[sylvanSpider]

“It wasn't that simple,” Emily said sadly, “He travels with a group, and horses. If we managed to trap him, we'd only really be able to trap his horse and he'd walk free. Besides. I'm not the engineer, and I don't think Victor was either. That's Yoruba, and I thought he was gone by the time she came back around.” Emily's green eyes searched the ground as if looking for answers. She knew she should have just shot him then, right between the eyes, but he was surrounded by his cronies. They were outnumbered and outgunned. Traps wouldn't have fixed it regardless of how quickly Anna felt she could have dealt with him.

“He was insane before, but this? This is worse. Before he would have said something snarky before trying at least.” Emily reached over to pat Max's belly to remind him that she was still here, even if Victor couldn't be. “I can follow trails just fine, thank you.'

She looked ahead, grateful, at least, that they didn't belong to some settlement. The settlements she'd seen were relics of an ancient time where racism and sexism were both alive and well, despite the fact that all of humanity had much larger problems that should be paid attention to first. “Overstocking is the goal,” Emily said, sliding into the river, “I suppose this will work just fine. I wonder how Yoruba's doing with her projects.”

[TheFabledBiscuit]

Anna's thoughts wandered as she tightened a knot on their fishing net. "What was your relationship with Victor like? He obviously had a thing for you with those few entries you were the focal of. Did you care about him in that sorta way? Anna stood to her feet nodding appreciatively of her handiwork, a couple of fish had already tangled themselves within their net as she grabbed several bits of sticks and leaves.
She wiped the sweat off her brow as she tied the branches together placing a bit of bait into the snare traps, hoping they would be able to trap a deer along with their fishy rations.
"I hope, we can manage to find even some more rabbit, I'm not a huge fan of fish, I know we shouldn't be picky when it comes to food and surviving, but its just something about the taste and texture that always turns my stomach if I have to eat it for several days.
She waited patiently, watching the fish hop into their netting as the day passed by. She handed Emily a few flasks of water to plan and bring with them.
"I hope she's doing a little better than us, this is taking longer than I had thought... I'm not even sure if we could just find a deer or something we'd be alright." She stared sadly at the trap she had set not far from their set up, nothing had wandered near by in some time now, something she found oddly strange.

[sylvanSpider]

Emily was silent for a moment, following Anna's lead in setting her own secondary trap, in case any of the wandering deer were in a herd. “My relationship with Victor? It was happy, mostly, up until the end,” as she spoke, Emily seemed to be in a different world, looking back at better times, “I...I did, but things got complicated.Really complicated. Before the Reckoning, Yoruba was my girlfriend. Shit happened and we broke up. It was just before the Reckoning, so of course those feelings for her hadn't yet died, but feelings for Victor were already there and growing. I didn't want to choose, so I just...I guess I just chose neither.” She bowed her head, eyes sad and wistful, as though her not making a decision was what ultimately lead to Victor's death. The notion was preposterous, of course, but she couldn't help but wonder if there was some sort of butterfly effect that could have kept him alive if things had even been just a little different.

“I've always loved fish, even before the Reckoning when that was the only thing in ready abundance. Sushi was my favorite,” Emily said, dreaming of the rice and seaweed, soysauce there, but hardly touched. Her eyes went over to where they'd laid the traps and she sighed, “There's a couple of possibilities I suppose. One, we're being too loud. The other...something has scared them out of this area. Let's pray it's not the latter.”

[TheFabledBiscuit]

Anna nodded while retrieving the few fish she could before they escaped their trap. "I don't think he'd blame you for that, so don't let it eat at you. If he cared about a person their happiness was always the thing he would strive for."
She watched the clearing for any signs of movement, hoping that anything would fall into her trap at the moment. A couple of hours passed before she gave a long sigh and shook her head at Emily who had long finished collecting and cleaning their catch.
"Well, fish is better than starving I suppose, hope you love them as much as you say, i don't think we're going to have much else until we pass through the city."
She helped carry the fish back to the cabin awkwardly opening the door before tossing the bag of fish into the main floor.
"Nothin but fish out there, something must have scared everything else away." She dragged the fish down to the basement eyeing Yoruba working at the desk. She quietly sat herself in a corner chair sharpening her knife knowing the woman would let them know when she had finished her work.

[sylvanSpider]

"I...I know," Emily murmured, bowing her head. She was seated on the edge of the bank, watching the nets beginning to do their job. When there were three or more she set to work retrieving them and cleaning them. "He always seemed to put himself last. Almost to a fault. I think that's why Yoruba trusted him. Maybe not liked him, but she respected him more than I ever thought was possible from her. She's ah...not exactly friendly to newcomers, if you haven't noticed."

The haul was decent, despite being only fish. They must have been impervious to anything that scared away the land dwelling creatures. It was enough to get them for a few days. Likely, they'd have to take the extra time to salt them and let them dry out, and it would give Yoruba extra time to prepare...whatever it is she was working on. "I don't know if my love for them is strong enough to survive off of them, but it seems I don't have a choice, huh?" Emily said with an attempt to crack a joke.

Yoruba, as expected, barely turned from her work until she got to a proper stopping spot. She was hunched over the small work bench, her hands blackened with oil, one holding some small like object steady, the other with some tool that Emily didn't know of prying into said object. When she finished with the prying, she straightened and stretched, "I won't complain. Food is food, and we'll need the sustenance. My progress has felt slow, but I have a couple of things I'll need to test out before the sun goes down. If either of these works, I'll need one or two more days to craft extra. But the supplies you gave me, Anna, seem to be doing the trick. Whatever the fuck is in Denver won't be ready for these."