Dead in the Water

Camp comes to a standstill, as the scouting party brings a whole bunch of very bad news back with them. Bad news, and two more mouths to feed…

You watch Vinh crane his neck skyward and grimace. Easy enough to tell what he was thinking…

Would the storm make for a dangerous trip downstream?…

Emma stands, huffing and puffing. Her hands are on her hips, and you see a sheen of sweat on her neck, arms and forehead. She looks to the boats, and then to the pile of stuff they’d spent an hour or two moving off of it.

"You’ve… got to be joking!" she says, wheezing and rubbing the back of her hand over her forehead and back into her hair.

Tracy eyes join Richard’s in looking over the new arrivals; like two foxes circling the chicken coop. He stands, letting everyone see him cut a shape; his arms bulging from the heavy pack he held, while deliberations were made.

"Where do you want this?" he asks, more explicitly drawing attention to himself.

Martin’s eyes follow Vihn’s and he makes an equally unpleasant face. And another still at the mention of slavers and rapists.

"Sla… Jesus!" he says, and stammers a moment before shutting up to allow himself think.

He shrugs, as if deciding between two bad options.

"We could maybe squeeze the bike on." he says, motioning to the boat. "We’d have to toss some of this!" he complains, pointing to the pile Emma and Tracy were tending to!

"Ask Martin." Emma huffs, with an edge in her voice. There had obviously been discussions about what was worth keeping, and what should be thrown overboard while you were gone. Martin, as he often did, had exerted his will and won out.

Martin looks like he’s about to jump to his own defense, when Billie-Faye asks for the map. A chance to ignore the altercation and feel important, the man busies himself with patting his pockets.

Tracy and Emma share a frustrated glance, and with a heaving sigh, start picking through the gear and carrying the choicest bits back on board.

"Aha! Right here!" he announces, and then makes a scene of clearing a suitable spot to spread the map out for all to see!

You see Eva and Selena step into the circle, looking over the map. Their eyes wander as they try to place themselves, and maybe their captors.

Martin makes theatre of ushering you all around the map, and pointing a finger down on Broad River; roundabout where he suspects the group is set up.

The map looks like it was put together by a group of businesses all looking to make a buck off the summer visitors. You see large icons for the stand-out businesses and their logos. Motels, trailer parks, fishing spots, and more.

Martin traces his finger down the river, until he meets a bridge that cuts across. He squints closer at the map, but some of you can already read it.

"Thumbs… Up. Thumbs Up Diner looks to be sitting right on the bridge there. Most likely it’s been picked clean, but it’s sure as hell not here."

Eva puts a finger to the map, and continues course down the map, beyond the diner.

"Havoc Hunting." she says, rapping her fingers down onto the map, and the sound drums on the pontoon. "We were hoping to make it that far at least…" she says, with a shrug.

Eva thinks it over, furrowing her brow, and putting a hand up her chin, as if trying to match the details she remembered with the map in front of her.

"By road…" she starts, rubbing fingers into the corner of her eyes. "… we’d heard some of the men saying that this sector was pretty clear."

"They said they had some safe houses cleared out in a few places. They use them when they go out on runs…" Selena offers up too. Martin quickly puts a hand up!

"No good!" Martin interjects, killing a plan before it’s even a plan. "They’ll know about them." He looks about to the others for support.

"But by boat…" Eva continues, ignoring Martin’s point but making a face that says yeah, no shit.

"I don’t know… Rocks, maybe? We had hoped there might be something left at the hunting place. The grenade trick only works once…" she says, looking to Billie-Faye, who currently held the woman’s only weapon.