Psycho Love / Troy Otto

Blend In

I met up with the Clarks, and we walked to the tent where Charlene's funeral was being held. As I walk in, I look up at the stage to find the Ottos sitting up there, so I send them a soft smile. I sit down next to Alicia at the end of the row of chairs. I could feel everyone's eyes staring at our group. They blame the Clarks for Charlene's death. Which is not fair, but then again, it wasn't fair for Charlene to lose her life. I look back up to the stage only to meet Troy's eyes. I see the hint of a smile on his lips, which makes me quickly look down at my hands, suddenly finding them fascinating.

Forty-five minutes later, we were listening to Charlene's mother tell stories about her daughter. "I was in the dining room dry canning some beans when an angel fell from the damn sky and crashed in my back yard. I screamed and ran out there, and there she was, all of twelve, a lump on the ground, holding on to a giant lawn umbrella. She jumped off the roof. Thought the thing would hold her. She broke her arm in two places, but she never cried."

Tears fell down my cheeks as I remembered all my memories of Charlene. She was like a big sister to me.

"Charlene embodied the spirit of this place. Always ready. Never quit. 'Get it right this time, Spirit.', and she would've if she wasn't risking her life for the unprepared." Pat glared at Madison. At that moment, everyone threw eyes of daggers at the Clarks.

Trying to ease the tension, Jake gets up and moves everything along. "Pat, thank you." He whispers to the grieving mother, encouraging her to take her seat, which works.

There is a long pause, and then I hear Madison's voice.

What the hell is she doing?

"Hello." All eyes go to her as she stands. "Uh, I just wanted to introduce my family, I'm Madison Clark." She looks over and motions towards us. "These are my children, Nick and Alicia. Some of you already know Alicia's friend, Rae." At the sound of my name, I put my head in my hand, not wanting to be a part of this. "We wanted to offer our condolences. For Charlene, for the others you lost. We've lost loved ones, too. Travis. Travis, he was our compass and...." She pauses, leaving an awkward silence, then speaks again. "We just wanted to say thank you for sheltering us and thank you for your generosity. We will repay it." Finally, she sits down.

Thank all that is holy.

After that shitty introduction, Jake tries to bring back everyone's attention. "Thank you. We've all lost, and we share that. Grieving's hard, but it's important that we process it -"

Suddenly, he is cut off by Vernan, one of the founders. "More important to prepare, Jake. I-I-I'm sorry, there's a time and place for mourning, and Patty is owed that, but who brought down the helicopter?" His question sparks a roar of agreement from the people around us.

Poor Jake is trying so hard to defuse the situation. "W-we...We aim to find out, Vernan."

"When?"

"We will get to the bottom of this."

"What's you're time line?" Finally, Vernan is done with Jake and turns to his father. "Jeremiah, please?"

Jeremiah shakes his head as if nothing bothers him. "Thing's changed, Vernan. Make no mistake, we are in a war time posture here. We tasked Alpha station to scout the prairie site. When we know what we're dealing with, we'll act. If it's some wing nut, we'll act. If it's a larger challenge, we will act."

👩‍💻Quick note that I have to actually transcript the parts of the tv show by ear, so if I get anything wrong, it's because it's hard to understand what they are saying sometimes. I've had to listen to certain lines multiple times to figure out the exact wording, but some of it I had to guess on. 👩‍💻