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"Actually that does sound kind of nice but I never got into the really hard stuff, couldn't afford it actually. Charlie and I were drinkers, it was easy to steal the bottles once that woman that birthed me passed out. We would see all the people going to raves we just never wanted to go. And then we got older and had to go do the whole demon killing thing so we didn't have the time. I'm okay with the heat babe, it's just all the people around that would have gotten to me. Oh man you don't know what you're missing when you're not in the pit! That was my stress relief back then. You could punch someone and get away with it, so you can see the appeal. I've sold some Molly but never did it. Weird right?"

“Headache? Oh no once you dance with that sweet girl you don’t feel nothing at all Stud. It’s euphoric. Almost therapeutic in a weird way. No worries. No anxiety. You just exist. But yeah I’d go to at least two in the summer. Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico. Sophie does the Coachella fashion thing. I do raves in the desert….or warehouse….or anywhere really now that I think about it. The heat never bothered me though oddly enough. Must be my Hell roots coming through. Those mosh pits are scary as hell. You fall and it’s over. Broken bones galore. Shit have you even met Molly before?”

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"No, you know what I was doing in the summer? Trying not to die in the heat, just like I am now. The closest I got to a rave was going down to the beach since it was free and pushing through all the idiots there just to get to the water. I knew what raves were, just never went to them because you can't exactly start a mosh pit there. The softies frown upon it. Is that really what you used to do? That music never gave you a headache after a few minutes?"

"It's summer....." The shrug was followed with a bit of a smile as he walkedo ver to pop a fresh Kureig pod into the coffee maker. Taking out his favorite mug he sat it down and then grabbed two dog biscuits for Sugar and Spice who were now on either side of him. "You make a roadtrip out of it from here to the Nevada desert. Get there about sundown. Let Molly out of her little cage and just vibe. Great music. Great light shows. Sleep it off in the car so you can drive home safely. You've really never been to a rave?"

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"Yeah good morning. If you want to fry your ass off in the desert that's fine with me, but you can leave Molly out of it thank you. Also, what the fuck? Who starts their day off like that?"

“Today feels like it’s time to find Molly and go to a rave in the desert ….oops my bad. Shouldn’t start a conversation like that. Good Morning.”

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Oh well that was news! Kyleigh had never seen any of the others on Lupos use just two legs while in their wolf forms, but she was happy to hear that they could if they wanted. She was sure it was a bit strange since they had gone their whole lives on all four, but it was just second nature to her. Either way she was just happy to know other wolves were out there, no matter how they looked or moved. Giving the king a playful glare when he pat her on the head she laughed it off, stretching her short legs out in front of her. "Well it's cute either way, but I rather like being on two legs. Makes me feel taller for once in my life."

Of course he got more treats in his cute large looking dog form. Kyleigh wasn't sure if he was aware of it, but Caspian even had the puppy eyes look down pat. "That's because you look so cute people can't help but to give you lots of treats. And there's nothing wrong with that! You could be your wolf self all the time and no one would know." Now that would be fun, and a lot less fear-inducing towards other people!

the wolf king did find this two legged form still foregin. he wasn’t the greatest at balancing, but he can try. he had his tail to help him. “ well people in lupos can do the whole two legged thing too, but they prefer the four legged version! me too.” he laughs. caspian liked talking about this sort of thing. it was nice to talk about it with a fellow wolf. caspian pats kyleigh on the head.

he was laying on the couch, staring at the ceiling. he was just silly today. he felt like he could talk about anything with his friend. “ i mean i like the four legged form more, i get a lot more.. compliments & well perhaps more desserts.” he laughed. caspian was so cute in his four legged wolf form. he is often mistaken for a very large dog which he is technically.

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The moment that Warren's mouth opened to say something smart Kyleigh gave him such an ugly glare. She was ready for him to argue with what she said, but they needed to stick together for now. They had gotten out of that damn camp alive and found somewhere safe for the moment. No need to push their luck further. So when he decided against saying anything she knew that nonsense about them splitting up was over. Noticing that Rosita checked her watch she remembered that they had a time limit for how long they were going to stay there and was more than ready to get going.

Already moving her feet when Rosita told them what else they needed to look for Kyleigh gave the woman a nod. The essentials only and no one attempting to be the hero around the dead. Well she wouldn't that was for damn sure, and she was pretty sure the other two women wouldn't either. If Warren did then that was on him. Taking the reins in leading the half lycan was quick to notice that the room they were in didn't have one of those maps, so she moved out into what looked like the main hallway. It was empty of the dead thankfully, though there were some cabinets thrown over and a few random chairs in the way.

"Try not to trip over any of this shit and leave the cabinets alone. We don't need any papers, and opening them up will only make more noise."

As she walked she spoke quietly, making sure to take her own advice. Kyleigh was quite clumsy for the kind of being she was and the last thing she wanted to do was trip over what she just warned the others not to. Some of the doors along the way were locked and she left them like that, only stopping when she came to a bigger set that probably led to the stairs. And just as she had guessed there was a map on the wall.

"Okay so ground floor was just offices and a few bathrooms." She informed the others as she cleared some dust from the glass protecting the map. "Obviously we can't take the elevators so the stairs it is. Second floor might have some more stuff, seems like that's where all the real work was done. I say we keep going until we get to that connecting hallway to the other building. Stick to the plan."

Looking back at the others for a moment Kyleigh decided not to waste anymore time and very slowly began to open one of the heavy doors. The smell of death hit her instantly and she coughed, quickly covering her mouth with her hand. There were either dead ones in that stairwell somewhere or it just lingered from being completely closed off. Pulling her shirt up over her nose as best she could she nodded for the others to follow.

"Keep quiet."

The echo was already loud enough in there, Kyleigh could hear every step someone took. Whether that was just how the building was or her hearing she didn't know, but she didn't have the time to think it over. They were on a mission and she was not going to be the reason why it failed. Slowly she began the ascent up the stairs, every sense on fire and her body ready to strike at any moment.

The silence that followed was a relief to Rosita. She didn't really feel in the mood for any discussions. They had come so far, so splitting up seemed like dishonoring what luck they've had finding each other. Warren didn't say anything, his mouth formed for a second as if he was going to say something, but it seemed like he was out of arguments, or something like that, leaving him quiet with bashful eyes. Irina spoke Rosita's mind when she mentioned that they had to stick together no matter what. She was also the one to remind them that they had planned to spend fifteen minutes on this mission, glancing at her watch and informing them that they had nine minutes left. Damn, that slow walk there earlier pretending to be the infected had stolen some good amount of time.

"Then we hurry", Rosita asserted. All of them were fairly fast and from looking at that floor plan, Rosita could tell that this building wasn't huge nor would it take them too long to reach the other building. Unless there were large obstacles, Rosita guessed that it would be a matter of about five minutes. "We grab any food, water, medicine and weapons we can spot out there. No rummaging and excessive searching, we don't have the time. If there's a room with dead ones inside, we ignore it and keep going."

That was the only way it would work. She couldn't ignore the risk of there being some obstacles, so too much looting, as much as they needed supplies, could fuck up their plan. And the more time they took, the closer that herd would be once they got out of the building, in case they had to head east. "Lead the way", she spoke to Kyleigh, trusting the brunette to pull this off. She seemed to know what she was doing.

"The good news is", Rosita spoke as she quickly began to move forward, "if that building Warren is so fond of turns out to be safe, we can go back here and search for supplies more thoroughly."

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God she hoped whoever was injured wasn't still in the area or even alive. Just like animals people could be very dangerous when they were hurt and afraid. The last thing Kyleigh wanted was a run in with someone else. She was used to being with Magna, to have to go through that again was just too much damn work. And if the two of them were eventually going to go their own way then what was the point of getting to know another? Either way if anyone living was nearby they would deal with that situation if they came upon it. Magna was right though, no one was getting far without a vehicle these days. One that ran and actually had gas was like finding the cure for whatever this virus was, so if there was one in that garage Kyleigh was not going to let it just sit there.

Coming to that old couple's bedroom was a bit of a disappointment, but Kyleigh had told herself not to get her hopes up about it. So far the house had gifted them with a lot of things they needed, she didn't want to get greedy. She did find a pair of old house shoes she grabbed just in case and a blanket. Not that she needed it, but if it did get chilly she would have to look the part so Magna didn't get suspicious of her. There was still so much that neither one of them knew about each other, one big thing that Kyleigh would rather keep to herself as long as she could. Her eyes did land on the many books that were in the room, drawing her over towards them. Normally she would scoop up as many as she could, read them to pass the time since there was nothing else to do. But this time around she had to just leave them there which did make her a bit sad. A few of them would have been very informative but Kyleigh was pretty sure she would have the chance to find more at some point. Magna announcing that she had found keys snapped the half lycan out of her own thoughts, a sly smile crossing her lips for a second. If all went well they wouldn't have to walk back to their place with all the new shit they found.

"There's a couple ways we could do that. If there's a door from the house to the garage we can just break that open, a good kick should do it. If we have to go outside we can see if we can lift the door from there. Usually if they have a handle on the door it means there's a lock that we can pick. That also puts us in more danger since it's out in the open, so let's see if we can find that first option."

Heading out of the bedroom the pair found themselves back in the small hallway that led to the rest of the house they had already checked out. There was a door at the end that Kyleigh figured led to the back yard, which she did not want to open for all the obvious reasons. There was another that turned out to be just a small closet with a few jackets and some random things on the floor. Probably one that they kept their coats and things in for when they were leaving the house. She wondered if they went to church every Sunday. Or went out once a week for groceries. If they had kids and grandchildren that came over for visits and holidays. Of course those thoughts made her heart ache. The family probably had no idea that they were dead now, maybe they never got the chance to look for them, to say that final goodbye. Clearing her throat Kyleigh pushed on towards the end of the hall, but no more doors were there to open.

"Alright well they don't have a door that goes to the garage from inside. But I have seen houses that have one through the back yard. We could go out there and see, might be safer than the front of the house. What do you think?"

If there were any of the dead in the back yard they would be easier to take care of and less likely to attract more. And if herself and Magna could get into the garage that way it would be easier for them to open it up and get the car out.

Kyleigh's theory made sense. Maybe by the time they had finished patching themselves up, they heard that old couple banging on the door and decided to leave rather than fight them. The safer choice, two of them at once was just too much if they were right behind a door, especially if you had an injury. "They could've left through the window right here. Maybe they're still nearby. If they're still alive. You don't make it far without a vehicle."

That was a big if. Magna had seen people leave this world so ridiculously quickly, she was already counting on them being dead, anyway. She's been in entire groups just a while ago, entire groups that had succumbed to the undead.

Their next room, the old couple's bedroom, hadn't been as much of a gold mine. Well.. that was the law of averages, wasn't it? Unsurprisingly, it didn't have any food, nor any hygiene products like the bathroom had. Nothing but clothes too small for Magna, except for a sweater she took with her in case it ever got cold outside and some underwear and socks. She'd been hoping to find a firearm somewhere, but she wasn't surprised those two didn't have that kind of stuff. Seeing that the rest of the objects within the room were nothing but decor or books (one about foraging mushrooms, but Magna didn't bother to check the bookshelf), she was about to leave the place, but the sight of two wallets inside the bedside table drawer made her want to check its contents. Money was useless nowadays, but something within her just wanted her to know those people's names. Gladys and Otto McCluskey. She couldn't help but almost flinch when she saw their organ donor cards. The universe had a cruel sense of humor. They seemed to have been good people, judging by some of the photos in their bedroom showing the charity work they'd done.

"I found car keys", Magna remarked, holding up a key with a Volkswagen keychain. "Let's pry this garage open. Got any idea how we could pull that off?"

She'd known thieves from the prison, of course. There had been one lady that had managed to pry open garages and steal people's cars by using a coat hanger. But Magna didn't know much about stealing, aside from a few times she'd shoplifted clothes as a teenager. That seemed to be more Kyleigh's area of expertise.

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Normally this was the point where Kyleigh would either just let Magna rot in that prison all on her own or throw hands with the way she spoke to her. But after all they had been through in the short time they had been together the half lycan decided to just let it slip right by. She wasn't exactly in the best mood either, already way too hot and sweaty and pissed the hell off that she was in this situation. If only she had just found a car or house to stay in to get away from the storms! But no, she saw the prison and thought it would be the perfect spot! What a fucking jackass she was. Ignoring the rather harsh retort that played in her mind thanks to the wolf, Kyleigh took a deep breath and centered herself.

"That's what I'm trying to put together. As long as we have an exit we have something to shoot for. Right now we just need a way to get there."

She tried to say it as calmly as she could, though now that she got a second glance at those monitors she could see why it looked like it was impossible to do. There were more of those freaks in there than she originally thought, and opening up very heavy doors was a sure bet to luring them too close for comfort. "Yes, a distraction would be amazing! Maybe try to herd them all into a couple of the rooms and shut them in there." That was one way to go about it, but how would they do that from where they were now? Kyleigh knew how to get the electrical working, she didn't know what each specific button did.

Magna's words caused the half lycan to glance up at the ceiling. For fuck's sake not those damn vents again! However it seemed as if they were the safest route at the moment. Thinking over the other woman's words Kyleigh began to move around the room in search for a map. There had to be one somewhere in this place. In case repairs were needed, or someone did get up there for some other stupid reason. She opened up all the desk drawers and pushed shit around. Mostly papers, pens, the typical office supply things.

"There has to be a master map or something in this prison, one of the offices. If they had maintenance it might be there. Or the warden's place. You ever get sent there?"

If Magna knew where that was and how to get there they could try that, but they would have to go on foot and face whatever might come their way.

"All that's in here are files and reports, nothing that we can really use. I don't want to go back up in those things without some sort of direction to head in. We could always just get up there and whenever we get to one of the vents look down and see where we are. But we could be there all day so I don't think we should do that…"

Before she went into a full blown, panic ridden rant, Kyleigh stopped herself and let out a long breath. That would only lead to the both of them getting killed and she was not doing that. "Alright, just keep looking. Any kind of map will do, but if we have to we'll just have to take a guess for which direction to go in. I don't know about you but I don't want to die in here and be trapped forever as one of those things."

What seemed like an unbearable weight upon Magna's shoulders seemed to lessen upon hearing that the other woman didn't blame her. Not that it erased the guilt, but now it no longer felt as if it was taking over her senses. Being the only one alive had done things to her. Had her question whether her survival had been some cruel cosmic joke. Why had she, of all people, survived? And had it really been luck? Every time she pondered how she'd made it this far, she came to the conclusion that she must've gotten lucky. But maybe it was punishment that Magna would live long enough just to see the worst of it. Maybe the ones that had been the first ones to go had never been the unlucky ones. Never having to see the cruelty among the prisoners, the diminishing numbers of survivors and the increasing masses of the undead.

Maybe she would go out in the worst moment because of all the shit she's done.

Her heart threatened to explode as she caught sight of a few sickos tearing into the flesh of a body in one of the bathrooms, the movement of a leg being the only indicator that this person was still alive. Shit.

Had she caused this? Had she lured that survivor into a death trap because she'd triggered the alarm?

Magna didn't even have the capacity to really think this through, the thought quickly fading from her mind, but the feeling of anxiety remaining in her chest. Her attention quickly shifted to Kyleigh, pointing to the visitor room.

"We need a plan", she shot back, sharper than she intended to, but more with an edge of desperation rather than anger directed towards the woman. "Opening that electronic door is gonna make noise." She knew it did. She's heard them opening a few times, back when the main power was still on. "I don't want those dead fuckers blocking the way. Maybe we can cover the noise. Broadcast a message to another room, clear the path."

The sound of Magna's deep sigh was drowned out by the shrill alarm, as she braced herself to sneak through the vents again. Hopefully for the last time. She hoped there wouldn't be a fan again - she guessed that fan from earlier had been there to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning from the back-up generator. "If we could only figure out into which damn direction to crawl," Magna commented, expression as surly as her tone. "I'd kill so many of them for a goddamn map."

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hunger

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Margarita Karapanou, tr. by Karen Emmerich, from The Sleepwalker

[Text ID: "completely feral."]

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How Erebus holds Kyleighs hand, always. Oops!