The Orb And The Onslaught {COMPLETE}

Help The Aged

    It took Florence a moment to compose herself, but when she did she noticed there were less cat bodies pressed against her legs than there usually were. She looked around to find Roxy was missing; she wouldn't just wander off while Florence was facing this turmoil. Something was off. Florence called her name but received no meow in return, she looked to the other two.

    "Where is Roxy?" 

Nathan and Joey both looked in the direction Quentin had been driven off in, then meowed at Florence and pawed the ground in the same direction. 

"You're trying to tell me she went after Quentin? No, I would have seen her and stopped her, it's too dangerous." 

    The cats both shook their heads, Nathan stood stock still while Joey ran and jumped perfectly onto his back. Joey stood there for a moment, four feet planted skillfully without a hint wobbling.  

It took Florence a few seconds to realise what they were saying. "She jumped into that death trap with Quentin and those men?" 

   They both nodded and Joey jumped down to then run over to the side of the road where Quentin had been standing when he was taken. Florence and Nathan followed and found Joey sniffing at something on the ground. 

"What is it?" 

Florence moved closer to investigate and found her bottle of pills and the map Essa had given them laid on the ground. 

    She realised Quentin must have dropped them in the struggle, but for him to drop these particularly important things she wondered if maybe he'd done it on purpose. She picked them up and stored the pills in her own bag. Then tried to look at the map in the growing darkness. It told her of towns nearby, small just like the ones they'd passed already but she couldn't be sure the kidnappers would go to any of them. 

    She decided the best course of action was to follow the road she'd last seen them take, the road intersected one of the towns and she would be able to ask the inhabitants if they'd seen the vehicle. She explained the plan to the cats and they eagerly agreed, walking ahead slightly as though scouting the area for her. It made her smile to assume so but her heart also ached for Roxy and Quentin. She had to stay positive that they'd be okay until she could reach them. 

    However, walking in the dark became increasingly difficult, the clouds overhead blocked any moonlight; if she hadn't had her walking stick Florence knew she'd have fallen multiple times by now. She couldn't see more than a few feet on any side of her, which heightened her other senses and made her reliant on the cats reactions. If they didn't react to a noise or movement nearby then she knew it was nothing to worry about. 

   No other vehicles passed by or even came into view while they walked, this didn't seem to be a very busy thoroughfare. Florence repeatedly pondered on how those men had happened to be on this road at the very moment she, Quentin and the cats were. 

    It couldn't have been a coincidence, not with their current brand of luck and the Onslaught constantly looming around them. She couldn't stand to think about what they might want Quentin for or what they might do if they didn't get what they wanted from him. 

    She had to force herself to think of something else, she was annoyed at herself for letting her thoughts turn dark like that. This situation had messed with her way of thinking, this wasn't her and she was determined to make this a rescue mission not a pity party.

    She bolstered herself and trudged on down the road. It wasn't long before she reached the town she'd picked on the map. It was just like the rest she'd seen; red brick buildings, sophisticated technology, countryside look, the only difference was the reception she received. The moment she mentioned the men with a frame for a vehicle, the doors slammed in her face. She couldn't seem to get anyone to answer the door to her after that, just what was wrong with these people?