Unseen - part 68
Part 1

Very matter-of-factly, Eric said "Apparently so. It may not make sense, but it seems to be the case. So those are two things we know for certain about whatever's out there. The question is, how can we use them?"

Everyone was quiet for a moment, and then Carl said "I say we stick to our plan: head for the Army base and see what's going on there." After some grumbled protestations, he added "They may know more than we do."

Steven looked towards the doors, and saw that the light was just about gone. It's almost time. "Yes, we head for the base," he blurted out. "They'll help us."

"You're both assuming there'...

Unseen - part 68
Part 1

Very matter-of-factly, Eric said "Apparently so. It may not make sense, but it seems to be the case. So those are two things we know for certain about whatever's out there. The question is, how can we use them?"

Everyone was quiet for a moment, and then Carl said "I say we stick to our plan: head for the Army base and see what's going on there." After some grumbled protestations, he added "They may know more than we do."

Steven looked towards the doors, and saw that the light was just about gone. It's almost time. "Yes, we head for the base," he blurted out. "They'll help us."

"You're both assuming there's anyone alive out there," said Rachel. "For all we know, we're going to find it deserted."

"That's a risk we have to take," said Carl. "The sun's almost down, we'll be able to head out soon."

"This time we'll have all night," said Amando. "We won't have to hurry."

"Don't worry, Amando, we'll go exactly as fast as we need to."

"We need to decide what to do with Catherine, and then what to do about what's out there."

"We can't leave her here," said Steven. Thinking about what he did to her brought the beginnings of tears to his eyes, but he fought them off; they reminded him of Candice, and he didn't want to think about her until they were back at street level.

"I agree," said Eric. "We don't know what she might do to herself when she wakes up."

"What could she do?" asked Carl. "It's not like she'd be able to see anything down here."

"When someone wants to die, they find a way to do it. Not being able to see has never stopped anyone who was dead set on doing themselves in. All she'd have to do is find out the lights run on a generator, and she'd be gone."

"After the way she introduced herself to us, I figured she'd be strong enough to fight," said Carl half to himself. "I guess you never really know what's inside a person."

"How do we get her into the truck?" asked Rachel. "Getting her up the stairs will be hard on its own."

"We can carry her up the stairs, that's not a problem. I just can't believe she cracked like that."

"Everyone has their breaking point," said Eric. "She simply reached hers."

"Thank you for that pearl of wisdom," Carl snapped back. "I can't wait to be out of here."

"If we're going to be heading out soon," interrupted Steven, "I'm going to the bathroom first." He didn't wait to hear what anyone else thought of it, though he was sure they'd all agree and want to go too - he just really needed to get away from all this talk about Catherine. She's in this position because of me. I hit her, I knocked her out; I'm responsible.

He found the bathroom and entered it, and sat down to do his thing. To keep his mind off what was happening with Catherine, he thought of Candice, and how happy he would be when he found her safe and sound; how excited she would be to see him come for her. Those were happy thoughts, and he smiled at them.

He heard the others talking calmly as he finished up his business and got up to wash his hands. He had to feel around for the taps and the soap, but he got through it okay. He rejoined everyone else, and Rachel announced she was going in now that he was out.

"What did I miss?" he asked.

"We were talking about Sasha," answered Eric. "He almost made it."

"He had a family, maybe."

"What do you mean he had a family maybe?" Carl asked.

"He didn't know whether they were still alive when he went back for them; someone else was living there. So he didn't know whether they were okay or where they were." Steven welcomed this conversation; it didn't remove thoughts of Catherine from his head, but it did push them back so they were out of focus.

"He was a very smart man," said Eric. "We're poorer for having lost him."

"If he was so smart, he wouldn't have gotten himself killed," said Carl. "He could have jumped in over the door."

"He would have hurt himself doing that," pointed out Amando.

"Better hurt than dead."

The conversation continued as everyone else made their trips to relieve themselves, until everybody was back and the sun was just about done casting light through the cracked-open doors. As the last bits of light waned out of existence, Steven thought to himself here we go.