"We're here."
The group of teens just arrived at one of the biggest houses they've seen on their trip to hellton City .
The abandoned house loomed over them as they approached, Opal still hanging onto Arcus. The sides were weathered and only a few shingles were holding onto the roof. Almost all of the windows were boarded up and the few that weren't had been broken and glass littered the ground around it. They were careful stepping onto the sagging porch. Maverick tried to open door, but it was jammed shut. Messing with the doorknob trying to get it to turn, he cursed under his breath. No luck. "Ok then, we do it the hard way," He said, backing up. Barely a second later, he kicked the door with as much force as his weak body could muster and it flung open, hitting the wall inside. Arcus chuckled slightly, "You're so dramatic sometimes, ya'know?"
"And what about it?" He shot back jokingly.
"nothing, just an observation." Arcus went inside and gasped. "Whoever was here before us did a good job wrecking it."
You could barely see through the darkness, but the bits of light shining through the cracks lit up a bunch of trash and broken furniture. Honour pulled out his lantern to get a better look. "It's not the best place I've lived in, but I can handle it," he said.
Arcus chuckled lightly. "honour go look for a generator, we'll look through everything." As he ran to the back, Arcus and Maverick slowly inspected the house. They quickly found the living room, and it was almost completely bare besides a flipped over couch and broken coffee table. "Maverick, flip the couch back up," Arcus ordered. As soon as the feet hit the floor, he picked up Opal and carried her over.
"You don't have to carry me I can walk, trust me I can do it," opals words slurred as her head fell back. "You can barely walk, you need to rest, Gem." Arcus laid her down onto the couch and said, "don't move, ok? We'll get you something to eat later." Opal adjusted herself and mumbled in agreement. Maverick watched them from afar, concerned. Arcus finally left her side and started towards the next door.
"I'm worried," maverick said.
"About what?"
"About her, she ain't ever like this."
Arcus scoffed, "well yeah, you don't usually get fucked up and trapped under a car on a Tuesday afternoon. Beside, why are you worried, you're never worried."
"I- I don't know, I just am," he stuttered. He crossed his arms and hung his head.
"Hey, she's going to be ok, we'll find her some Advil soon and she'll be good as new, everything will be okay, alright?" Arcus said, with a small, warm smile. He pulled him into a hug. Maverick accepted it and fell into the embrace, wrapping his arms around him, lingering for as long as he could.
It felt so... warm coming from him.
The lights flickered on and honour walked in on them. Shocked, he said "Oh, I uh, sorry I was just making sure all the lights worked, was something happening-"
"Nope, nothing at all, let's check the rest of the house, come on," Arcus interrupted him, and hurriedly left the room. As the door closed, Maverick and Honour looked at each other.
"What's up with him...?"
"I really don't know. Come on, let's look upstairs."
Honour shrugged and went up the living room stairs, creaking with every step. He flipped the light switch at the top of the stairs. The long hallway looked like it would never end. "I can't believe people actually lived in places like this, wow," Maverick said in amazement, "I swear my house was barely bigger than the porch." They checked each door, looking through the rooms for clothes, gear, and meds. They threw anything they found into a pile in the hallway. Looking through the bathroom, maverick opened up the cabinet and found something the scavengers left behind, a whole bottle of painkillers.
