"i gotta say, this house leaves much to b desired." Roxy said, as the group walked into the small cottage. It smelled like burning and gasoline, and there was soot on the walls. The floor was broken and covered in rubble, in some places it was hard to traverse, and other places were completely cut off. "I don't care, as long as I don't sleep on the streets anymore." Dirk replied, as he messed around with a chair he found. "YEAH, AND AT LEAST THERE'S A ROOF." Karkat added. And indeed, this cottage wasn't as bad off as most others were. The walls were still standing- for the most part, the roof was still there, and there was more than one room. It was way better than sleeping on the hard pavement.
"Alright, time to scavenge." Dirk said, and the group scattered around the house, looking for anything useful. After 2 hours of looting the place, everyone came back with one armful of things. Books, duct tape, broken scissors, wood, and a bit of food is what they found, among some other things. They then used the things they found to build a makeshift bed, using a mattress they found upstairs. At least one bed was made, so at least one person could get some proper sleep at night. They spend most of the day making the bed, as the mattress was broken in all the wrong places, and was practically falling apart. They then spend the rest of the day making a crude stove. It worked if you put some fire under it. It would cook food and make it more nutritious and less dangerous to eat.
It was then nighttime, which meant it was time to go outside and look for supplies and nutrition.
"ALRIGHT, WHO OFFERS TO GO FIRST?" Karkat asked. The group was huddled together around the makeshift bed, sitting in a circle. Dave and Roxy were the only ones actually sitting on the bed.
"well ive got some p nice ideas on another bed." Roxy said, excluding herself from the scavenge tonight. "I'd rather not leave the shelter to just you and Karkat. No offense bro." Dirk said, and looked at Karkat, who threw him a short glare. "I GUESS THAT LEAVES ME." Karkat said after a short silence. "no ill go." Dave said determined. "Whoa man, are you sure?" Dirk said. "You don't have to do this." he then continued. He was really worried about his little bro going outside in this hellhole. "no man see i really wanna do this. everyones always taking care of me and thats nice and all and i guess i need it" he paused. "but i wanna show you i can do shit myself too. ill just go to the nearby cottage and be back before midnight alright." Everyone was silent for a few minutes. Until finally Dirk said: "Alright. I'll let you go. Take a weapon with you, a rusty pipe, a piece of wood- anything, okay?" Dave nodded.
Dave spent roughly 20 minutes preparing for the scavenge. He took a bag with him, and a thin plank. His bro hugged him goodbye, and he was off. Karkat was starting to feel awfully tired, and was allowed to sleep the night in the bed. Roxy and Dirk would stand guard tonight.
Roxy was standing in the hallway near the front door, keeping a watchful eye on it in case anyone tried to break in, while Dirk was downstairs, near Karkat.
In the abandoned cottage, Dave managed to sneak into the house's front yard unnoticed. It seemed very quiet, but he couldn't tell whether it was because they were asleep, or because it was actually abandoned. He peered through a hole in the door, and saw there was no one. Though it was hard to tell, because of the darkness. He could see some small movements, like someone very tiny scurrying around. 'rats' he thought to himself, and with one good rap at the door, it swung open, dust flying around. And indeed, a few large rats ran off like they saw a monster appear (in a way, they did).
Back at the shelter, movement from behind the front door happened, but Roxy was again lost on her thoughts about all this blowing over soon. Again the same raw feelings filled her body, making her feel worse than she normally felt. When the door flung open, and a large, black figure stood in front of it, pointing a gun in her direction, she woke up in an instant and started to panic. The figure shouted "Show me what you have!" and Roxy called for Dirk. Like a madman, Dirk ran upstairs, holding a rusty pipe, and saw Roxy standing there, completely paralized, while a gun was pointing at her direction. As soon as the man saw Dirk however, he pointed the gun at him, and repeated what he said. Dirk slowly walked forward, step by step, clenching his hands around the pipe. "Stop it, right there!" The man shouted, but Dirk kept walking. The man kept shouting at him to stop moving, or otherwise he'll shoot, but Dirk just kept walking forward, until he came close enough. He quietly shut the door, and locked it. The man kept shouting for a while, but eventually left.
"the fuck." Roxy said when it was finally silent. "how did you know he wasn't gonna shoot?" She asked, completely taken back by what just happened. "I didn't, heh." Dirk said, with a grimace on his face. Roxy smiled and hugged Dirk. "you fuckin moron" she said and ruffled through his hair. Dirk just chuckled a little.
"I can't believe people would come so soon." Dirk began. "I thought this area was completely abandoned. The military lost interest, but I guess civilians did not.." he said melancholy.
A little while later, Dave returned from his scavenge. A bag full of wood and supplies, and even a few pounds of food! "had a good night" he said with a proud smirk. "I'm proud of you li'l bro." Dirk said, as he laid a hand over his little brothers shoulders. "good job, Dave!" Roxy said with a big smile on her face. "We should be good for a while." Dirk said. "Hey, you can keep guard with us, or spend the night with Karkat, whatever you want okay?" Dave thought for a moment, and decided to spend the night with Karkat downstairs. Dirk and Roxy stayed upstairs, and organized the supplies Dave brought. Soon enough, the sun came up, another morning began, their hopes higher than ever before.