Exoskeleton - IC

Lance looked back at Edgar, his expression hardening. "I don't think we have met" Inside his head, he admitted that the other did seem familiar but he couldn't place from where. For someone who had just been given some help, they seemed to be pretty ungrateful. He considered putting a slug into the boy since his guard was down. It would only be appropriate.

Serenity looked up at the man as he placed a hand on her shoulder, causing her to tense up from the contact, not expecting such an action. She remained frozen, however, until the man removed his hand and shook his head, responding to her question. Serenity felt her shoulders relax.

Then the man asked her to follow him. His voice was hoarse, and she briefly wondered what had made it that way. Nevertheless, despite his eerie appearance and the fact that she didn't know him at all, Serenity followed the man, curious about where he was leading her. She slowly stood up, one hand fiddling with the red ribbon that kept her blonde hair in a braided, and nodded, her eyes, while still holding a sad presence to them, showing some hope. After all, if this man wanted to kill her he would have done so already. She kept her other hand gripping the dagger, not planning on using it but still feeling safer with the weapon.

Harrison turned around at the sound of growling. His eyes widened as he saw the huge reptile staring through the door. He backed away slowly at first, but then started to run. Reptiles were faster, smarter, and stronger than most of the arthropods. His survival chances were unlikely if it caught him. He quickly opened an ice storage unit, which was off, and closed the door. He was trapped in there, but at least he could put one more thing between him and the gigantic lizard. He sat in there, almost to tears. He would probably die.

Harry swallowed and looked at the girl in front of him. She was close to his age, it seemed like. He did as she said, and slowly climbed out of the large box. Slowly and steadily. He immediately looked toward the large lizard at the door, it's tail swaying from side to side in an aggressive motion. He looked toward the girl and whispered," Who are you?"

He heard her name, Mouse. "I see, so that thing has a master, or something? I mean, it's eye looks all patched up and stuff". He looked over at the reptile. "Name's Harrison", he said," but people call me Harry. About your name, Mouse? Do people just call you that or is that your actual name?"

"Okay, Mouse... How are we going to get out of here without being eaten by a humongous gecko?" He questioned. It wasn't in a rude tone, more like he was trying to figure it out himself. He looked around the store. He didn't know why the lizard didn't attack yet, that glass could easily be broken by it's powerful forelimbs. He looked at the food pile. That's why..., he thought to himself, It's guarding it's master's food stash.

He looked above him at a ventilation shaft. "Here, gimme a boost", he said to Mouse. Maybe they could crawl through that shaft and out the back side of the shop. However, the lizard could figure it out and be a huge setback.

"Alright then." He replied," I don't really want to approach it, so I think I'd prefer to just wait." He slowly sat down against the wall. "Well, I don't know how long this will take." He looked over at Mouse. "I owe you one. If you didn't go in and get me, I would be dead." He smiled. That was the first time in a long while that he smiled. His life was spared by the reptile, so I guess that was a reason to smile...

He looked over at Mouse and bit his lip. He was afraid, and when he was afraid he talked. To himself or to anyone who was around. But he felt like Mouse was not the kind of person who enjoys conversation, so he thought to himself. But, he wanted to talk. He wanted to have someone to hear his thoughts. To share his fear...

Serenity looked at the giant lizard that approached, her expression dull though she was really quite surprised to see that the man had be friended a lizard and was keeping it as a pet.  She had never really thought of the possibility as she pictured all the creatures above land as things that attacked on sight. Though there was always the possibility of raising one from birth... Huh.

Then the man, able to understand the lizard to an extent, took off, asking her to follow. That was something that Serenity felt comfortable above ground doing- she wasn't good at much, but athletic activity she could do. She followed the man, easily keeping up with his running. She kept, still, one hand wrapped around her dagger. She was jut waiting for a bug to surprise her.

They arrived in front of two people- one who seemed experienced an one who was new, like her. Serenity silently looked t the man she had been following, awaiting his judgement for the two.

-

Josh let out a whistle a he stepped into the large building, taking off the good of his dark blue jacket to reveal a dark tan and shaggy black hair that had sand present in it. His eyes gleamed with humor the same way one's eyes does when they know of a joke no one else does. There were a few small scars here and there along the sides of his face, but nothing that noticeable. The only thing not visible on his face was his mouth, a it was covered by a gas mask that was comparable to a doctor's mask if not for the filter sticking out of one side of the item.

Josh looked around the building, always impressed by such architecture- activity centers. Sure, they had some below but none were like the ones above ground. A thin layer of sand covered the floor, but everything else in the building seemed well preserved. He walked around, looking in different rooms. He found one with treadmills that below are never really seen often, and he passed by a room with a wall that ha colorful rocks nailed to it. Then there was a gym for basketball. Every room he saw Josh would quietly walk in, look around out of both curiosity and caution, then walk out.

Then Josh arrived at one room in particular- it had a large swimming pool in it, though most of the water Was drained from it and what was remaining had a thin layer of green algae present over it. The sides of it had black spots all over it from mildew and mold as, despite the climate outside, the water present in the air hadn't been dried out. Josh slowly walked into the room, trying to be as quiet as possible. Moisture present may attract bugs- even they have lungs that may need some relaxing every once in a while. He looked left, right, behind him, and then.... Above.

Just as Josh looked up, his eyes widened and before having time to dodge a bee had him in its grasp and had already carried him to the highest part of the room, flying around as if looking for an exit. Josh reacted quickly. He knew that the only time he could act was now, while the bee was looking for an exit. He had a butcher knife in one hand, wincing as the bee's grip on his shoulders tightened. He needed to wait for the right moment to... Now.

Josh brought the knife up and rammed it into the bee's fuzzy stomach, making sure to get the object lodged deep into it before pulling the weapon out. The bee let out a strange screech-like buzz before releasing Josh and he fell right into the algae-filled pool. Not the cleanest place to land, but he found it better than being stung or captured by a bee, both of which probably lead to one's death. He quickly swam in the shallow water until he was out of the pool. As soon as the action had been done, however, the bee had recovered the shock of the blow and, now angry, was charging at Josh.

Josh, however, was now ready. He readied his knife and waited as the bee dived for him, dodging to the side at the last moment to use his other hand to yank out his lead pipe and ram the weapon down on the bee's head, killing it. Josh looked at the dead body silently before taking his knife and scraping it against the bee's stinger. The poison, while not as bad as a wasp's or scorpion's, still helped. He placed the knife away and wiped the bee guts that were coating his pipe on the insect's fuzz-covered skin. He then placed that weapon away, as well, smiling a little. This fight could've ended a lot worse. He was lucky.

The victory was short-lived, however, as Josh's smile was replaced by a wince. Now that the adrenaline was beginning to leave his system, pain anywhere on him worsened. In this case, it was his shoulders. Josh took off his wet bag and jacket, then peeled off his shirt, as well. If others were present, he wouldn't have done such an act. No one was present, however. Josh tossed the three items across the room, where they landed close to the dead bee's body. It was then Josh examined his shoulders.

Both were bruised pretty badly, but his right one was the worst. It had dark bruises already forming on it and was popped out of joint, sticking forward instead of to the side. While he was used to such an injury, the frequency didn't make the pain any less excruciating. Josh slowly placed his left hand on his right shoulder before closing his eyes and pulling it back into place. For an instant, the pain worsened. Then it began to feel better. Much better. Josh sighed with relief, though his shoulders were still really sore. He walked across the room and placed his shirt and jacket back on before opening up his bag. He was getting pretty hungry. Josh pulled out the items he was looking for- a jar of peanut butter that was halfway eaten along with a package of crackers. He took out a few crackers an dipped them into the peanut butter before eating them. After eating a few, he placed the food back in his bag and stood up, ready to get back to exploring. He walked out of the building, searching for nothing in particular.

Harry looked up at the strange, masked figure. He was tan, and "surface-hardened", as some of the people would say back down under. She heard Mouse explain the situation. In his case, it wasn't correct. Although she would probably not know why he came in here. He arrived simply for food, which he did not know someone owned. It was clear this man was the owner of this food supply, and he was reassured now not to take it. Ever.

"Alright then. My apologies." Edgar said, slowly beginning to back up "Anyways, thank you for the assistance. We'll just...go now. Lance was bullshitting him. He knew who both of them were; they were people from long ago, back from the first time he was in this hell. He quickly realized that both of these people had better weaponry than he did, and that, even if they did know him, they would still kill him and, worse, Miranda. Maybe if he hinted to knowing them before going then they would leave himself and Miranda alone. Miranda began to slowly back away and Bob followed suit, skittering towards the end of the trailer. He climbed down the side, but Miranda stayed up, now far back enough to be out of Lance's and Xena's sights. Edgar looked over at her, and then back to Lance.

"Have a good evening Lance, Xena." he said before turning down the alley with a brisk walk. If he heard any running behind him then he'd take off full speed across the desert and hope for a miracle.

Serenity shook her was at Mouse's statement, one hand playing with her red ribbon as she raised her sad eyes to look at the duo that had been caught. "I don't think he came here for shelter. He was sent up with h purpose of finding food, so he came in search of it." Serenity lowered her eyes to the ground, continuing to play with the red ribbon that held her brai in place. To her the mission of finding food didnt matter if she was going to die anyways.