Church

Grimur sees the ghouls spread sparsely on the street. Most of them are cluttered in the alley by now. It should be relatively safe to head outside without being noticed.

Ralph listened to Kea's retelling of her escape. He nods in affirmation on the details. "She's not with Thomas and Kelly, I didn't see her either. She's probably still up in the mountains, or maybe she couldn't leave the resort. We should head back there and look for her, Thomas can take care of Kelly, we'll catch up with them after we find Ingrid."

"I hope they can last until morning," Charlie sides into Kea and Ralph's conversation with a frank grimace at the two of them. "Because it's almost night. The temperature's going to drop; if they can't warm themselves..." He sighed, loathing that he had to be the bringer of cynicism again, "...I wouldn't get my hopes up, that's all."

Without any meaningful loot to grab, Charlie heads to leave the room but stops at the doorway. "I gave you your ride into town, Kea, but I've gotta get out of here." Specifics were out of the question with these two strangers. Something stops him from walking, still. "Do you three have a plan to get to this resort?"

Kea looks deep in thought. Trying to figure out what has to happen for Ingrid to survive the coming night.

"Why don't we come back with you. Where you found and took me is near enough to the resort. Will you allow that?" She asks.

Charlie's first thought was to say no, but he didn't give voice to it. The plan was to see Kea off with her people, then be content to forget them as they hopefully lived their lives as best they could. He knew they would be hard-pressed to find shelter with night encroaching soon, and even at his most jaded, Charlie wasn't a monster. "I- Yeah- You can come, just for the day," he said, looking to the three strangers with an uncomfortable feeling akin to walking into a wolf's den. "It'll be slower -- can't all ride on the horse," Charlie admitted, the realization that their swift journey to town had led to an agonizingly slow walk back to the cabin.

Still, he'd given his word. "Let's go, we'll have to move quick," Charlie didn't wait for them as he walked outside the church and beckoned Wren along -- after a short compliment of her watchfulness. Though the rest of them would be walking, Wren would have a seat on Bitters' back.

Timeskip - Near the Cabin

Thankfully, Bitters was safe and sound when the group concluded their search in the church. Their trip back to the cabin was a time consuming task on foot, especially with a few extra breaks on the way to accommodate Kea's condition. By the time they reached the snowy mountains near the cabin, it was nearly nightfall.

Ralph had been constantly looking over her shoulder, checking his surroundings for hidden dangers. As the distance between the group and the cabin shortens, he seems even more agitated. When the cabin comes into view, the man stops in place.

"Are you okay?" Wren inquires from the back of the horse.

"Hm? Yes, why don't you all go ahead." He pauses for a moment. "I need to... take a breather."

In her state Kea had spent most of the journey back without saying a word. Her eyelids growing heavier by the hour until she had to shake herself awake again. Only when Ralph started to fall behind did she raise her head and look into his eyes.

"What's wrong, Ralph?" She asked.

Near the Cabin

"Dizzy, head trauma." Ralph searches for a tree and leans against it. He rubs his hand softly against his head injury. "You feeling okay Kea? This long walk isn't good for someone who lost a lot of blood."

There was plenty of time to think on the way back to Mike's cabin. Charlie thought about Mike, who'd hidden his knowledge of cannibals, a problem he didn't expect to go away any time soon. He thought about Wren, the only person that mattered, and if he could keep her safe amidst all this uncertainty. And he thought about these strangers, and whether he could trust them. With his mind occupied so much, the journey seemed shorter than it was -- breaks notwithstanding. When the cabin came into view, Charlie let out a sigh of relief.

Although the warmth of the cabin beckoned him strongly, Charlie's attention got drawn to Kea and Ralph's exhaustion. Their long walk left him a little short of breath, someone who took great pains to stay physically fit. Guilt crept past the hard exterior he'd kept up. "Do either of you need help getting to the cabin?" Charlie asked as he helped Wren down from the horse. He didn't want to say outright that Kea looked the weakest; women usually took offense to that.

Kea's eyes narrowed, Charlie gives her an out, she takes it. Turning and giving him a tired smile. "Thank you Charles but I'm tougher than I look. If you wanna go ahead I'll help Ralph along when he's ready. We've... been through alot in a short time." She says.

Charles? Getting misnomered shouldn't have been a big deal, but it got under Charlie's skin in an unexpected way. "Alright, just...don't stay out here too long," he said, with a nod to all three of them. "Wren, head inside." Charlie guided Bitters to the same tree he'd hitched her at before, after some encouraging words to urge the tired horse along. After she was secure, he headed for the cabin, side-eyeing the group of three along the way.

Kea smiled at Charles and Wren as they left but then focused her eyes on Ralph. Her expression turned grim, almost annoyed.

Near the Cabin

Wren gazes at Kea and Ralph before nodding her head. With Charlie' help she hops off the horse. The child makes her way back inside the cabin. The cabin door opens with a kid wearing a ushanka hat standing at the entrance. In the distance, Charlie sees Mike making his way over to him hauling a bundle of chopped wood in his left arm and an ax in his right hand.

Kea, Ralph & Grimur

"Nothing's wrong Kea." Ralph shoots a smile back at the woman. Though through his eyes, Kea can tell the man's aware of his futile attempts at deflecting the topic further. He sighs, lowering his voice.  As Ralph explains, he's visibly nervous. The man runs his hand through with mouth before speaking again.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:50, Sat 07 Dec 2019.

Charlie mentally steeled himself for a conversation and met Mike halfway; he exhaled, then gestured to his small group. "Found them in town; one of them's Kea's friend," he pointed to Ralph. "The other one, uh," his finger drifted over to Grimur, "Nobody knows him, but he seems harmless." Charlie looked apologetic as he leaned onto his ax, "I promised them shelter for the night, is that a problem?"

 She closes her eyes, sighing.

Near the Cabin

"Not at all." Mike replies, looking past Charlie at Kea and the other two men. Its unlikely that he'll be able to see their faces clearly at this distance. Despite that, he squints his eyes, trying to get a better look on their faces. "Hm... This little cabin will be a little crowded." The man scratches his head.

Rufus steps out from the house and walks over by Charlie and Mike. He stares at the strangers next to Kea with a scowl on his face. Mike turns to him and asks. "We have guests over, is it okay if they stay for the night?"

Rufus hesitates, then nods. "Yeah, whatever. But they can't sleep on the couch, that's my spot."

Kea, Ralph, & Grimur

 Ralph sighs heavily. "I guess I have to try. I'm even more nervous than the time I did my first surgery." He slowly makes his way to the cabin, where Charlie and the others are standing.

"Wren and I can sleep on the floor if we need to," Charlie says, silently assuring himself that it will only be for a single night. "How are we doing on meat?" he adds after he realizes that a food store for three will be tested by their doubled number.

Kea thought of an excuse, anything to help.  She asks.

Kea, Ralph, & Grimur

"I don't know about that, but I hope so." Ralph replied to Kea as the trio slowly make their way to the cabin.

"That's kind of you to offer." Mike smiles. "We have enough for one with this many people." Mike stepped to the side to greet Kea. As soon as the large man sees Ralph waving back, his smile drops to a fierce scowl. The scowl fade as fast as it lingers on the man's face. His face is now fuming with rage that Charlie has never seen before. Mike storms towards Ralph with his ax raised.

"I TOLD YOU IF YOU EVER COME BACK I WILL KILL YOU!" Mike shouts. Rufus freezes and stares at the man, perplexed. Charlie can see Wren peeking out from the door in the cabin to gawk at the sudden yell from Mike.

Ralph halts in place with both of his hands up in the air. He takes several steps back as Mike approaches with heavy, furious steps. "Wait, hang on, Mike!"

Charlie had never heard Mike raise his voice before, and he generally thought of the cabin owner as a level-headed man -- which made his sudden mood swing all the more shocking. Stupidly, Charlie was too shocked to initially react to Mike's threatening advance. "Mike- MIKE!" he yelled, snapping out of his stupor and clumsily stumbling through the snow toward Mike. He didn't think twice about reaching for the ax handle with the intent to wrench it out of Mike's hands. "Stop, dammit!"

Something cracks inside Kea and she unholsters her revolver with a serious expression, pointing it directly at Mike and steps in front of Ralph.

"I have no time for this crap, stop it!" She orders.

Charlies wrestles the ax out of Mike's hand, however, that did not stop the man from stomping towards Ralph. Mike makes a move to shove Kea aside, but halts when he sees the barrel of her revolver.

In the distance, Rufus arms himself with his rifle with its barrel pointing at Kea.

Kea sees the man's face bearing down on her with rage.

"You know what he did!? What his people did? To my wife and my kid?" Mike points his hand at Ralph. "They ate them, like... like animals!"

"Cannibal." Rufus mutters. The child adjusts his rifle.

Charlie was about to step between Mike and Ralph, only to freeze up when Ralph was declared a cannibal by Mike. Given Mike's earnest-seeming reaction, Charlie couldn't ward off a newfound suspicion toward him; what if Kea and the foreigner were the same? "Ralph, is that true?" Charlie asked tersely, his hand gripped the ax handle tightly.

Near the Cabin

Ralph's eyes darts between Mike and Charlie.

"It's... it's true." He looks down. "That's what we did."

"Out of the way." Mike commands at Kea. It doesn't look like he'll take no for an answer.

"No!" Kea roars back.

"I need his help, you arent going to kill him do you get me Mike?" She yells to him. "Put the axe down and let's act like dang adults here!"

Mike raises his arm with the intent to shove Kea aside, but the giant stops himself after taking a deep breath. His face is still red with rage, but his eyes are no longer ignited with fury. It doesn't look like he'll charge at Ralph this very second. Still, you should choose your next words very carefully.