Emerging from the building, the group of teens made their way up the hill, heading towards the girls' Aunt Rita's house. Rita Santos wasn't really their aunt, but she had kindly taken them in when they showed up in town unexpectedly. Finally stopping in front of the large house, the group was relieved to leave all of the destruction behind them. Rita's house hadn't been affected much by the catastrophe. Debris laid all around the yard and the front door was missing, seeming to have flown off its hinges. Other than that, however, everything seemed to be remotely well intact. It was almost as if the ripple effect of the asteroid had stopped directly at the Santos residence. Ondina noticed this almost immediately, pondering what could have happened. Unable to come up with an explanation in her own mind, she shrugged it off and tried not to think about it. It must've been luck. Erik and Mimmi helped Cam into the house after Ondina stepped through the now vacant door frame, and the group noticed Rita right away. She was kneeling over the body of someone, pressing a cloth to a gaping wound on their chest. Edging closer, they were shocked to see that the person laying sprawled out on the couch and occasionally moaning in pain, was their friend Zac.
"Holy shit-" Mimmi breathed, staring wide-eyed when she noticed Zac's chest. Rita jerked her head around quickly. She was obviously surprised, but her surprise turned to relief as she handed Zac the cloth and walked over to the two girls and their friends. Mimmi slid out from under Cam's arm, leaving Erik to hold him up, and joined Ondina in embracing the older, red haired woman. Ondina broke away from the hug, causing Rita and Mimmi to as well.
"Is he okay?" Ondina asked, concerned about her wounded friend who sat tending to himself on the couch.
Rita observed the girls in their frazzled state before her eyes also scanned the two boys. She then looked back at Zac, who only just noticed his friends had arrived.
"Don't worry, Zac will be fine. I'm more concerned about the four of you. How on Earth did you get so banged up?"
"We don't know-" Cam answered, Rita leading him over to the couch next to Zac, with the other three teens in tow. "One minute I was at the usual spot, waiting for everyone to turn up- and the next- Erik was helping me climb out from under a pile of rocks or some shit."
"The whole place was in ruin," Mimmi continued, "I thought everyone around me had died until Ondina found me and brought me out to Cam and Erik. We couldn't find anyone else so we just came back here.."
Zac looked at his friends before speaking, trying to analyze what was going on.
"So you guys were at the Cafe when all of this went down?"
"Well, not exactly. Ondina and I were on our way. But Cam was already there and we don't know where the hell Mimmi was. Ondina just showed up with her after I found Cam- But I guess we were all pretty much nearby." Erik paused. "Where the fuck were you?"
"I don't- I just- remember going for a swim… and then I woke up.. here. I can't recall anything else..." Zac trailed off, thinking hard, "This is all so fucked…"
"Don't strain yourself, you're hurt pretty bad, Zac." Ondina stepped in, "Look, the way I see it- we can figure this out tomorrow. I think we all just need a fucking break for the time being."
"All I need is some fucking drugs." Cam added, the wounds on his body seeming much worse now.
"Right- Mimmi, help Zac to the bedroom down the hall, and then do what you can to ease Cam's pain- Ondina and Erik come with me."
Mimmi let out a small giggle, earning a wink in return from Cam, then leaned over to help Zac up off of the couch. Ondina and Erik followed Rita into the kitchen, Ondina helping Erik walk as the gash on his leg had started to become too much to handle. Rita motioned for the teens to sit at the dining room table, Ondina next Erik, with Rita beginning to tend to his injuries. The tiny blonde sat there for a moment, unsure of what to do. Rita was dabbing the cut on Erik's leg with what seemed to be alcohol, occasionally earning a wince or grunt from the boy. Ondina glanced at the clock in the room, realizing it was around 11:30 at night now; Time had flown by.
"Rita," she began, "It's late- if you want, I can take over. You should go to bed."
Rita and Erik both looked at her.
"No complaints from me." Erik said slyly.
Ondina tried to act like she had payed no attention to his comment.
"Are you sure?"
"Rita, I'll be fine. We'll be fine. Trust me."
Rita questioned the young girl again only to be met with fierce determination. After all, Ondina could handle almost anything that was thrown at her; She was always the tough one. Feeling more content that Ondina had things under control, Rita went off to her room on the second story of the beach house, thus leaving Erik and Ondina alone.