Discoveries | TMR | Three

0:9

Hunched over a map on the floor, hours after all have gone to bed, Adeline sits amongst the dirt, ignoring the sound of ravenous cranks patrolling the street outside of this fenced enclosure. Tiny stones and grains of sand embed themselves into the skin between her toes to her bare knees, and her matted and dirty hair has been pinned back, with only a few stray wisps trickling graciously down each side of her face, and frayed edges slinking along the surface of the map below her.

The room in which she inhabits is dark and dreary. Broken bottles and shards of glass glaze the tiled floor whilst pallets, slabs of concrete and crates coat the outer edges. There is one door that hangs from its hinges, and the ceiling above her is constructed only by a curtain screwed into the frames of the walls.

The entire place is falling to ruin, and certainly would not do enough to hold back any number of Cranks who managed to make it past the fenced barrier.

It is moments like this that remind her of the Warehouse. During the evening, the young girl could venture anywhere she so pleased without the niggling notion that she could be attacked at any moment. A fortress, it was; a place where she felt safe and secure. Hidden neatly away from the dangers of the outside world, where she could do what she wanted, when she wanted, as long as she abided by the one rule Lily had set in place; do not leave the building.

It was her place of comfort, and regardless of how much she tried to fight it at the time, it was home.

The only thing this harbour has to offer to her is the chance of breathing some fresh air, and even then, it is often riddled with the lingering scent of death and disease.

She misses the Warehouse, and she misses the way her life was when she was there.

"You gonna fucking stand there all night?!" In the midst of her thoughts, Adeline has become frustrated, and she takes that frustration out on the closest person to her; the same person who has been staring at her from the doorway for the past ten minutes now.

"Sorry."

The voice clicks in her ahead quickly after that gentle word is uttered, and her heard darts up. "Daniel-," she starts, surprised to see him here.

She had only seen him in passing since yesterday, for he had been in the company of Maggie and Matt for the majority of the day and evening. He had been seen leaving the couples boat and strolling to theirs only a few moments after lights out, but by then, Adeline had already resigned herself to this room for the night.

"Are you okay?" Adeline feels stupid for asking him that question, yet she asks him anyway, noting the slightly somber expression on his face.

"Uh..." Daniel takes a second to stutter out his answer. "Yea, yea, I'm fine. I'm good."

It comes with a curt nod and scrunching of his features; as though trying to convince himself of the fact. Adeline may not be very well versed on the complexities of emotions that do not revolve around irritation, but she can certainly sense when something is amiss with her dearest, although distanced, friend.

"You sure?"

"Yea."

But she does not want to pry too much, and so, when he repeats that simple answer to her, she merely shrugs her shoulders and lets it go, knowing that the boy will come to her if he so wishes to. "Okay." So, she shrugs her shoulders, feigning ignorance to his mood. "Since you're up, you wanna help me out?"

"Uh, yea, sure." Daniel smiles softly at her, a faint expression of gratitude weaving into his features as he timidly steps into the room. He crouches down on the right-side of the girl, leaning to the side and kicking his legs out from under his backside. "What're you doing?"