The Hyenas {Dreamnotfound AU}

3. Quite Alike

George's POV

I wake up to the sound of rumbling in the distance, and footsteps pacing back and forth behind the couch. I open one eye carefully, slowly taking in my surroundings, remembering where I am. As I open my eyes completely and sit up, I lock eyes with Dream, who stopped in his tracks as soon as he saw me sitting up.

"What time is it?" I ask him sleepily.

"Don't worry about it, you can sleep still," he says, laying down a piece of paper he was fiddling with.

"Everything okay?" I ask him, slightly worried that something might be going on. He looks at me with a seriousness I had not seen without the mask yet. Another rumble in the distance.

"You hear that?"

"Uhm, yeah? The thunder?"

Dream nods.

"Thunder means a couple of things around here. Bad things." His voice turns menacing, and his eyes turn darker. You'd think he's about to tell you the world is going to end.

"First of all, it means it's too dangerous to go out. One lightning strike at the wrong place and you'll have a building on top of you." Seems fair. I had noticed the unstable houses on my amble before.

"Second, if you can't go out, you can't gather supplies, which makes you more vulnerable. I'm lucky I have this place," he gestures around the bunker-like room, "but some people hide at less safe spaces. They rely on daily supply gathering, so they can defend themselves against The Hyenas if needed. The worst thing is that The Hyenas know people are more vulnerable during the thunder, so they don't stick to their schedule anymore. You knew they start at three, right?"

I nod. I remember looking at my watch, waiting for the time to pass until three.

"Where normally they're around between three and six, during thunderstorms they disregard of that. They do whatever they want. It's their game," he says with such intensity that it sends shivers down my spine.

"So they can hunt freely?"

Dream nods again.

"What does this mean for us?" I ask, furrowing my brow.

Dream sighs and walks over to the couch. I pull my legs to myself, hugging them to my chest while resting my chin on my knees as Dream comes to sit on the other side.

"It means we have to wait out the thunderstorm, stay inside for however long it takes, and pray to God that not everyone is dead by the time we can go up again."

I frown and look at the tv, which Dream turned off right before we went to sleep, so the light wouldn't bother me as much.

"Fuck," I say.

"Couldn't word it better."

For a while we don't say anything and just sit there, before Dream breaks the silence.

"Well, guess we'll be stuck with each other for another while, then." He stands up, making his way to what's supposed to be the kitchen, and he fills a kettle with water. "You like tea?"

"Yes, please," I answer him. The couch isn't the warmest place to sleep, so I could use a warm up. He sets the kettle on the stove and waits for it to whistle, making us both a cup. He hands me one and examines my pale face and trembling hands.

"Are you cold? I told you, you could join me if you got cold," he says seriously. I shrug it off.

"It's fine, I'm just tired, I get cold when I'm tired." His face turns pensive and he scans the room. He notices his own pile of clothes and jumps up again, walking towards it.