Charlie stared at Ralph, stunned at his admission. Silent fury began to swell up inside Charlie, whose grip on the ax tightened, its weight seemed to disappear. He wanted to bury it inside Ralph's neck, and it was only the rational reminder that children were watching that tempered this otherwise uncontrollable urge. "Mike, our kids," Charlie interjected, jerking his head in Rufus and Wren's general direction. He approached Mike's side and fixated an icy glare at Ralph and Kea.

"I'm not letting a cannibal near my niece, Kea," Charlie said slowly, with thinly-veiled venom in his voice.

"Mike he is going to suffer for what hes done, in this life and the next." She says between ragged breaths.

"But hes my best chance to get back to my people. That's all I care about right now." She turns her head to glare at Ralph.

"And you will help me."

Mike turns his head at Rufus, who's looks to be ready to shoot his rifle at anytime. The man takes a deep breath before he speaks.

"Rufus. Could you take Wren inside?" The large man asks.

"But the cannibal!" Rufus replies.

"We'll handle it." Mike states. The boy slowly lowers his rifle and leads Wren into the cabin.

Ralph meets the eye of every glare in his direction before giving out an exhausted breath. "I will, Kea."

Charlie let out a sigh once Wren and Rufus were out of sight; children didn't need to hear what Ralph had done, and Rufus shouldn't have to witness what Mike might stoop to. Not unless Charlie could talk him down. "I'll watch him, Mike. He won't do anything without supervision," he said, with a firm, diplomatic tone that sounded practiced. "Once Kea's ready to find her people, they'll both be out of our hair."

Kea sighs in relief and her shaky hands drops to her side. "Thank you." She mutters out, closing her eyes and focused on the cold air touching her skin.

"I ain't wanna be here neither. As soon as we find my own, I'm gone. I promise you that."

From the treeline, a red headed woman emerges with a bow in her hand. She approaches the group with the string pulled, aiming at Charlie and Mike. After her previous words, Kea's vision starts to fade. She feels a temporarily weakness in her legs, forcing her to lower herself closer to the ground.

"Back away assholes or you'll have an arrow sticking out of you." She calls out, marching towards the group. She stands besides Kea, the woman on the ground.

Mike takes a step back from the woman. "We're not hurting her, calm down." The large man says.

"Kea, are you okay?" The woman glances at Kea from the corner of her eyes. "What's wrong with her? What did they do?" She asks Ralph while her stare daggers at the two men.

Ralph kneels by Kea's side and checks her pulse with his hand. "Severe blood loss. She strained herself too much by moving around. She needs to be inside."

"She can come inside, but you will stay out here, Ralph." Mike states. "Charlie, give me a hand?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:35, Wed 01 Apr 2020.

Her visions swirls amd she doesnt feel herself drop, simply that she lost feeling in hey knees. Voices new and old could be heard. She turns her head, feeling like an eternity before she spots a face looking down at hers.

"R-red?" She mumbles, her eyes unfocused. She brings a hand up to touch her forehead. Her other hand drops the revolver she was holding.

"W-Stop." She says to no one in particular.

Sami stayed back within the trees, an arrow nocked in her bow but with the weapon by her side. She watched Ingrid dash towards the group with some surprise. However it was apparent after a few seconds that the African American woman, whom she now knew was named Kea, was Ingrids friend. Sami watched the proceedings from the trees, not willing to involve herself in someone elses conflict. She didn't exactly try to stay hidden, just made no attempt to move towards the cabin.

It wasn't until Kea spoke that Sami stepped forward. Kea looked hurt, the man was right about that, and she looked like she knew Ingrid. Red?"

Sami didn't speak as she followed Ingrid, asuming that the invitation to enter the cabin was offered to her as well by inclusion. She was wary, but these people were trying to help Kea, perhaps she could stay a bit until she was well again. See Ingrid and Kea off then Sami could be on her way.

Kea's weakness brought out Charlie's concern, but he only took a step before a woman warned him to stay back. His jaw clenched as he stared straight at an arrowhead that could easily puncture his skull, and he took a step back as the woman demanded. Mike's composure held more firmly than his, which made Charlie feel just a bit more ashamed at succumbing to pressure. "I can get her on my own. You just watch them," Charlie said under his breath. He was over six feet tall and still well-built despite their food shortage; Kea wouldn't be too difficult to move.

"I'll move Kea. Don't shoot, alright?" Charlie warned, and he approached Kea slowly to put the bow-wielding woman at ease. Kneeling down, he hooked an arm under her knees and braced the other against her back -- bridal style. From the corner of his eye, a teenage girl caught his attention. That she was silent didn't put Charlie at ease, and he couldn't help but keep her focus on her on the way back to the cabin.

Ingrid moves herself in between Kea and Charlie when the man advances toward Kea. She picks up the revolver that fell out of Kea's hand.

"Its fine Ingrid, they're the ones who found Kea and bandaged her wounds. Let them take her inside, I'll explain." Ralph says. Ingrid pass the revolver back into Kea's hand, giving her a firm squeeze. "Be careful. I'll come talk to you in a second." Ingrid slowly back away from Charlie. Her gaze lingers on Charlie until he help Kea inside the cabin.

"Now who's this?" Mike turns over to face the stranger that followed Ingrid out of the bushes.

"She's with me, I found her alone in the woods. She's..." Ingrid turns to Samindi. "I don't think you told me your name."
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:55, Wed 08 Apr 2020.

"I didn't." Was all Sami said, looking between Ingrid, Charlie and the older man.

She still wasn't completely sure about Ingrid, let alone anyone else now with her. They seemed to be helping Kea but all the same they seemed fairly hostile towards the other man, Ralph, who also seemed a friend of Ingrid. They went so far as to demand he stay outside.

Sami shrugged, "Just helping." She casts a side eye to Ingrid. "I found her alone in the woods."

She stopped short of the cabin, rethinking her intention to go inside. She stopped silently and decided that she would remain outside with Ingrid and Ralph. The cabin was too confined and she didn't trust the large men yet. At least out here she could run if things didn't turn out so friendly.

Kea puts up no fight as Charlie collects her. Between faint breathes she recites a short prayer.

"Please God tell me shes real, tell me Red is here God almighty. Please..." She keeps her eyes closed.

"Well, young lady, my name is Mike." The large man speaks to Samindi. "You can come inside if you want. Make sure you say hello to Rufus, he's the boy that owns the cabin." Despite his burst of fury from earlier, Mike manages to force a smile on his face. "But you be careful around this man and anyone else you might find in this mountain. They're not good people." He says, glancing at Ralph.

"Well. Mike." Ingrid glares at the man. "You are also from this mountain, maybe you should take your own advice."

"No, Ingrid, he's right." Ralph sighs. "We're not good people, what we've done at the motel is something we can never justify."

Ingrid mouth motions for words but stops. She bites her lip, making a silent decision to not talk more on the subject. She looks to Samindi.

"I'm going inside to check on my friend. You should get some rest inside, you look tired." Ingrid turns to Ralph. "Ralph, I'll be back with Kea, then we can get out of this stupid mountain."

The hostility from Ingrid and her mysterious, standoffish companion were hardly surprising, but being denied the simple courtesy of a named introduction put the man in a fouler mood than normal. "Charlie," he said while staring at the teenaged girl with a disapproving frown. He nonetheless passed by her without another word. Edging the cabin door open with his foot, Charlie stepped into the comfortable warmness of Mike's cabin and breathed a long sigh as the mountain chill melted away in seconds. "Your friend saved us a trip," he told Kea, with the enthusiasm of an uninterested co-worker. "How soon can you leave?"

"When the lights stop dancing." Kea replied, gesturing towards a place for her to sit down. She kept a hand on her head.

"Girl you shoulda stayed at home." She said to no one in particular.

Considering just walking off yet one more time Sami sighed and sat down outside with Ralph. The warmth of the cabin was a strong temptation but the two large men seemed equally angry about something. Mike seemed to have calmed down a bit but Charlie certainly didn't like her for some reason. She didn't want to consider what would happen should anger be directed to her while she had nowhere to run. Sure it was cold, but better to be cold and alive.

She looked to Ralph but did not say anything. She caught what the man said about doing terrible things. Probably no worse than what she had already seen. No worse than what she was running from.

She drew out a bottle of water from a pouch on the side of her backpack and took a drink. Her stomach grumbled slightly which she continued to ignore. She sat in quiet contemplation, trying to work out just how she got here and what she was doing next.

Inside the Cabin

Wren stands quietly in the corner, clutching her hands together below her waist as she watches the events unfold. Rufus holds his rifle steady by the door. He tenses up when Charlie walks through the door with Kea, but relaxes when he recognizes them.

Momentarily later, a red haired woman steps through the door with haste. Rufus jumps in front of the door with barrel aim up at the woman.

"Hey! Who-" Rufus' sentence is cut off by Ingrid when she brushes his rifle to the side.

"Don't point that at me, its not a toy. You'll hurt someone. Kea!" She rushes over by where Kea is sitting. "Kea, I'm here, I can't believe I found you! Let's get out of this mountain, coming here was a bad idea." She holds Kea's hand with her own.

Outside

Ralph and Samindi sits in the cold, outside of the cabin. There's a horse nearby, pacing in place. Its curious gaze lingers on Samindi for a brief moment before lowering its head to inspect the snow on the ground.

Mike stands in between the cabin and the pair that's resting outside. He keeps a good distance and maintains his sight on Ralph.

"Mike's not a bad man, he's a really good guy." Ralph says quietly out loud. "It stinks that this is how you got acquainted with him." He shoots a smile at Samindi.

Sami glances over to Ralph, only briefly before her gaze falls back on the horse as she replies to him. "So you're saying I should go inside and leave you here?"

She turned her head to the cabin door. Decisions. She wasn't comfortable being around that many people, and more inside the cabin. Though after the way Mike treated Ralph if he still said Mike was a good man, well, there must be some truth to it.

Outside

"I'll be okay, Mike is looking out for me, see?" Ralph nods his head ever so subtlety at Mike, who is still staring at him like a hawk. "I know Kea and Ingrid, they're innocent people who are trying to survive in this mountain and ended up mixed in with a bad community. They won't hurt you."

The man leans back against the tree. His hand massages the side of his forehead, where half of it is covered up with bandage. He seems to have suffered from head damage recently. "Aren't you cold out here?" He asks.

Sami looked towards Mike then back to Ralph. She doesn't reply to Ralph as she stands.

Slinging her bow over a shoulder she turns towards the cabin. She looks towards Mike, half expecting him to stop her even though he made the invitation earlier. Sami opens the door and steps inside to join the others.

Inside

What awaits on the other side of the cabin door is a young boy who looks to be around the age of ten. He must be Rufus, the boy Mike mentioned earlier.

Rufus steps in front of Samindi with his rifle raised. "Who are you? Why are you in my house?" The young boy asks.

Sami frowned at the boy and rolled her eyes. Great. Now I have a gun in my face. The boy was much younger than her but was quite close to her height. "Your house? Mike said I should come inside. You must be Rufus?"

Sighing she asked, "So can I come in?"

Looking into the room past Rufus Sami could see Charlie and Ingrid attending to Kea. Standing in the corner she saw a young girl of similar age to the boy, wringing her hands worriedly. Meeting eyes with the girl Sam smiles and raises a hand in a wave.

Inside the Cabin

"Yeah, that's right!" Rufus announces with pride.

When Samindi waves at the girl with a smile, the young girl catches the gesture. She looks hesitant at first, but she returns a wave and a faint smile.

Rufus looks over Samindi from top to bottom then steps aside. "Okay, you can come in. But you can't use the beds, they're taken."

Samindi sees a nice cackling fire dancing in the fireplace. There are several skinned small animals hanging around the walls of the cabin, and buckets of small beast's innards. The cabin is very crowded with this many people inside. It will be difficult for Samindi to move across the room to where Ingrid is without bumping into someone. However, the cabin is small enough for her to engage in any conversation that is going on.

Samindi feels something poking the side of her waist.

"Hey." Rufus asks after poking her with his finger. "Are you a cannibal?"

"Sure, no beds. No problem" Sami began to move into the cabin as Rufus poked her, asking if she was a cannibal, "What? No, of course not." It did worry her that he would ask. Ingrid mentioned an old cannibal camp nearby, maybe this household had some experience with them. He stomach curled at the thought.

Moving across the room Sami tried to slip between those helping Kea without bothering them and reach the corner with the small girl. Taking off her backpack and lying her quiver and bow against the wall behind her Sami sits down cross legged next to the girl. "Hi. Lot's of people huh? What's your name?"

Inside the Cabin

"Hello." The young girl greets back at Samindi. She appears to be around the same age as Rufus. Her darker skin tone gives away her native background. "My name is Wren." Wren's reserved posture loosens slightly once the she introduces herself. "I'm with Charlie." She points to the large man in the room who shares the same skin tone as her. "...Are you a friend of Kea?"