𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘐𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵

'Settling Down.'

 The Incident: Book 7, Part 12.

W/ Chad, Mya, Oliver, Julian And Victor.

Setting: At the cabin-like shelter, the snow started to fall more slowly, as a decent amount of snow blanketed the slanted roof and on the ground of the forest around them.

No One's POV/3rd Person:

"Chad, Are we in the Clear to move in?" Mya spoke up to Chad who was inside, moving things around, still silent. She furrowed her brow, confused. But he was most likely doing something, so she waited a little. Before footsteps approached the door from the inside, and The door opened, revealing Chad inside, letting them in. He seems slightly roughed up and On edge, but other than that, he Had His stern and confident demeanor unwavering, as he sidestepped for the others to walk in. Some furniture and objects were flipped over and out of place. "Wonder what's that about." Victor says. Julian agrees, while Oliver immediately Patted over to the Fireplace, apparently he had known the concept of a fire place, although it was out, he most likely was hoping to warm up, and He had curled up right in front of it, like a Fire would magically start if he stayed near it enough. Julian laughs. "I'm right there with him." He looks over at the several individual seats and coffee table near the fireplace. "Well, whoever was living here before this or afterwards for whatever period of time, they were living the life, that's for sure." Mya Adds. And Chads' facial expressions tightened as his mind drifted back to the anonymous person who had attacked him. This was that person' s home. Most likely. But he had to do it for the sake of the others. He couldn't imagine someone doing that to them, No. he couldn't imagine. Because they'd be dead the moment he came in contact with him. Victor had already made his way to the kitchen, in search of food, and he was silent, For a while, actually, before he yelled in excitement. "Guys.. I think we just hit the damn jackpot!" Victor called them over. And indeed.. They Did. Julian Looked over at the canned beans, and the bags of rice that sat in the bottom cabinets. Victor elbowed him and Smirks. "Dude. looks like we might have dinner tonight, Huh?" Victor says, and Julian chuckles. "Well, duh. I'm pretty sure we haven't had something good in a while, yeah?" Julian says. Oliver had already perked up at the mention of Food, Mya stifled a laugh. "He's always been like that, you know. Even before this whole outbreak." She says. Victor looked at her in surprise. "He's your Dog? Like YOUR dog? Not just some 'thing' you bonded with over the timespan of this hellhole?" Victor asks, and Mya chuckles, not exactly answering. "Well, let's get to it then." Getting slightly impatient, Julian piped up, eyeing the rice and beans.

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After a while, the group had gotten The Food together. Boiled the rice with running water they had found in the sink. Somehow it was Hot, which made them extra Lucky. And they had simply just poured out the Canned beans that were close to expiration date, but not quite just yet. "Goddamn. How do we keep getting this lucky?" Julian looked quite pleased with their meal. Chad started to prep on plates he had found in the top cabinets. "I know. It seems too good to be true, doesn't it?" Mya spoke up. Victor nods. "It really does." he says, and once everyone had their share of the food, they all sat around the table. "Eugh, Rice really clogs my throat." Julian mutters, already gingerly touching his throat before even eating, wearing a slight uncomfortable grimace, looking around. "Any Drinks?" He asks. Oliver rested his head on Julian's knee as the mutant dog expectantly looked up at him for his share. Victor looked through the Fridge, and silently held up a Carton of Orange Juice in victory. Julian chuckles. Victor tosses it to him, which Julian catches, he then uses one of his hands to dap up Victor with a firm grasp and Pat him on the Back. They had all seated and started to already dig in. Mya eyes Julian who had been smashing all of his beans with a fork, and making designs with the rice and fork, trailing the fork to where the rice had parted, As Julian made a heart shape and made the empty spaces a little wider for the smashed beans, which he then used to fill in the empty spaces, although grumbling as rice continued to fall over the smashed beans. "What-" Mya says, and Julian shrugs, eyes continuing to focus on his food creation. Victor, currently shoveling the rice into his mouth, he curiously watches Julian who just simply ended up eating it, then chugging the Orange juice raw from the carton, and attempting to catapult some of the beans at Oliver with the plastic forks, which landed on his head.

"Honestly? I don't think we've had something good like this in a while," Victor says, mouth full, while Chad sighs, taking a swig from the shared Orange juice Carton before setting it down at the table. "Yeah. It's like the universe just so happened to take mercy on us, just for a little while." Mya says. Julian had just started to smear the beans on Oliver's head, and Mya looked irritated, trying to talk to him through a glare, which the message did not go far as he only glanced at her and gave a smug smirk before grabbing a handful of rice and threw it up in the air, some sticking to the sealing and some falling back on the others, causing them to flinch in surprise, whereas Oliver just licked up the mess, still greedily looking for more. "Welp," Victor sighs, scraping off the leftover food on his plate onto the ground for Oliver, who was pretty much playing 'garbage can' for the duration of their meal. Mya Glances up from her plate at Julian, a look in her eyes that read.. Something else. Victor had leaned back in the chair, and Julian eyed her curiously. "You Gonna eat the rest of your food, or what?" he says, slightly confused. She cleared her throat and nodded, her gaze returning back to the plate. "Oh- uhm- right. Of course, I will-" she sighs shakily. Setting her fork down. "You better." Julians' usual joking and teasing demeanor returned, playfully flicking her in the head. "You need the energy to keep moving." he adds, and Mya only rolled her eyes at his response. They had finished up their meal, and Julian stood up and looked at Mya, as if he was telling her to follow. She looked from him to Chad and Victor, then only firmly nodding and getting up as well.

The two of them had walked onto the porch, silently shutting the door behind them. Leaving Chad and Victor to themselves, although with Oliver of course, who was still looting the ground for scraps . Julian had leaned against the Balustrade of the Cabins' porch, taking in the scenery. The snowstorm had started to come to a stop, white blanketing the forest and ground around them. It seemed peaceful, for a while, until Julian looked at Mya, with a soft smile. "...You... wanted to tell me something." Julian broke the Ice. Mya flinched, surprised at his sudden statement, before she nodded. "Yeah..." She nods, blinking a couple times. "Yeah, I do, actually."

To be continued.

Word Count: 1260