itle: Strange Days 2: Outlanders
Author: Love In Vein
Summary: Takes place six months after the events of Strange Days. All is going well until Lacey returns, bringing with her some adults and all sorts of new problems. How will Micah deal with this? Will everyone survive intact?
Disclaimer: Stephen King owns the original story; Micah, Danny, etc. and COTC 2 are owned by Paramount; Theo and the other Outlanders, Delilah, Zephaniah, Mina, Jakob and Keren are owned by me, and Rachael and Meagan are based on real-life COTC superfans Rachael and Meagan.
Part 4
It had to have been about four in the morning when Danny was jolted awake by a sharp pain is his arm. He sat up and stretched, then looked around to get his bearings. He had fallen asleep on the couch with the others, even though they had all pledged to stay awake. He realized that his arm was lodged in between the back cushions and was being leaned on by Micah.
"Micah...Micah," he whispered and tried to shake his friend awake. "Damn it, Micah, wake up!"
Micah's eyes slowly came open and he looked at Danny with annoyance. "What?" he asked.
"Well, for one, we all fell asleep. Two, you're leaning on my arm!"
Micah grinned sheepishly and leaned forward. Danny pulled his arm free and rubbed it. "Gee, thanks. Now, what are we going to do?"
"The lookouts obviously haven't come yet, so it seems that we are not in immediate danger as of this minute," but even as he said that he knew. They were coming.
---------------------------------
Theo led the small group of adults on the main road towards the town. Lacey walked behind him next to Margaret, her gait slow and slightly unsure. She was beginning to have second thoughts. She shook her head and pushed those thoughts to the side. She just knew she was doing the right thing.
"So, this is it?" Theo asked, turning his head slightly.
"Yeah, this is Hemingford. It's bigger than Littleton, you know." Lacey replied.
"It doesn't look so bad to me," commented Kevin.
"Well, it is. It's way worse than Littleton. The leader of these kids has this thing and thinks he is way more powerful than just about anyone," Lacey retorted, lying just a little. She wasn't about to tell them that Micah actually *was* more powerful than a lot of people.
"So we are dealing with kids who are not just psychotic, but under the sway of some delusional teenager? That's just great," Kevin said.
"Don't worry about it. That's all he is, delusional," Margaret tried to reassure him.
"Even so, we have to be ready," said Theo seriously.
---------------------------------
Zephaniah was standing on the lookout platform with Jakob when he saw a small group in the distance coming towards them. "Look! That's gotta be them!" Zephaniah exclaimed to Jakob.
"Then we'd better go and warn the others," said Jakob, jumping down from the platform. "You go to Micah's house and get them and I'll begin getting the other children to the clearing, okay?"
Zephaniah nodded. "Okay, but hurry!" he yelled as he began to run as fast as he could towards the house.
---------------------------------
Micah was about to say something more to Danny when there was a loud and frantic banging on the door. Jedediah jumped up to answer it and when he did Zephaniah practically ran over him to speak to Micah.
"Micah!" Zephaniah panted with urgency. He took a few gulps of air and then started again. "Micah, they're coming. Five or six of them."
"The Outlanders are here? What's going to happen?" asked Mina, who had joined the teenagers when she heard Zephaniah's loud banging.
Delilah put her arm around the younger girl and squeezed her shoulders reassuringly. "You'll be safe with us," she said.
"Where's Jakob?" Micah asked.
"He went to start the warning. Most of the children will be in the clearing when you get there," Zephaniah answered.
Danny got up and began to go to the door. "I have to get Keren. I promised her I would protect her," he told the others.
"And you will," Micah started. "But you must stay here with us. It is too dangerous to go out there alone."
"Then how can it be safe for Keren? And with Lacey out there, she might be in a lot more danger. Micah, I have to go," Danny said resolutely.
Micah sighed with resignation. "I understand," he said finally. He briefly looked out the window where he saw that some of the children were running towards the clearing with various weapons in hand. "You should hurry, then. Find her...but be careful."
"I will," Danny replied, and then he was out the door and gone.
"We must go now," Delilah said quietly. "There isn't much time. They know this house."
"Come on then, enough talking!" Rachael exclaimed, her voice slightly raised.
"Rach, we'll be okay," Jedediah soothed.
"No, she's right. We must get there as quickly as possible," Micah said and started towards the door.
The rest of the small group followed him.
---------------------------------
Danny was jogging through the streets when he finally saw Keren going in the direction of the field. "Keren!" he called.
She turned around and smiled with relief when their eyes met. She ran over to him and hugged him fiercely. "Danny, why aren't you with Micah?" she asked.
"I had to find you. I couldn't just let you be out here alone," he told her. Then he realized that Tabitha was nowhere to be seen. "Tabitha didn't stay with you?"
"No, Jakob offered to look after her being that she's pregnant and still pretty distraught about Japheth."
"Oh, that was a very good idea. Jakob's a good fighter. She'll be safe with him," Danny said and squeezed her hand. It was then that he saw some figures moving closer. He couldn't tell whether or not they were children. "I think we need to move."
---------------------------------
Lacey noticed that the town seemed curiously empty. Doors were open and all the houses looked positively abandoned. Where was everyone?
"Where is everyone?" Theo said, vocalizing her thoughts.
"I don't know. Maybe they knew we were coming," she said, not telling them that it was probably her fault that they had known Outlanders were in the area.
"But just look at this place for a minute," Margaret said, a small amount of wonder in her voice. "Are you sure that *children* live here?"
The outlanders stopped for a minute to take in the look of the town. The stores and restaurants where obviously deserted, and looked like they had been stripped of what was important and then locked up. But the sidewalks looked meticulous and it seemed as if someone had been careful in caring for the flowers and trees that lined the streets. To take a quick peek down the side streets you would see those strangely abandoned homes, but their lawns were weeded and groomed and lovely. The town hall was freshly painted and a sign near the door listed the times of something called 'His Court.' In the distance loomed the church, but even from their place they could tell it was well cared-for. Even the bell in the bell tower was gleaming in the early morning sun.
"Yeah, it sure doesn't look like children live here. Why would *children* care for a place in such a nice way?" asked Theo.
"Because, don't you see, they're not regular children. Keeping this town as nice and clean as it always was, is one of the things *he* requires of them," Lacey struggled to explain.
"But why?" Margaret asked.
"I don't really know. It was just one of those things," answered Lacey in an exasperated tone of voice. "Now shouldn't we be going to the main house? I mean, I bet they've already left it by now, though."
"We'll go anyway just in case," Theo said.
---------------------------------
When they got to the main house, the adults didn't hide their shock. The house Micah, Delilah, and Danny lived in was an impressive structure, to be sure. It was large and white and Victorian, with a flower-lined walkway leading up to wide, stone steps and a pair of massive glass-paned doors in front. Theo and Kevin walked up the steps with a little bit of trepidation. Kevin grabbed the doorknob and twisted it experimentally. It was locked. The two men looked at each and Theo shrugged, then took a baseball bat from one of the others and smashed in the delicate flower pattern on the glass. "No problem," he said with a smile.
Kevin reached his arm in and unlocked the door, and the group filed in one by one. They stood in the main hallway and listened intently for the sound of voices or movement. It was eerily quiet. "There's no one here," Kevin said with disappointment.
"No, I had a feeling there wouldn't be. Why don't we split up?" Theo suggested. "Margaret and I will stay here and see if we can find any clues to where everyone might have gone."
The adults agreed and left the home in separate directions, careful to step around the shattered glass that littered the doorway.
---------------------------------
Once Micah and the others has reached the Sacred Clearing they were almost immediately bombarded by questions. Micah saw that Danny and Keren had made it there safely and smiled warmly at them.
"Brothers and sisters, please remain calm. Yes, there is of course cause for alarm, but we cannot panic," Micah said, and he was aware that he was almost pleading with them. "The older ones among us must spread out around the circle to stop the Outlanders from desecrating it. The young ones must stay close to the middle for the utmost safety."
The children began to speak among themselves and the teenagers started to move out of the clearing and into the fields surrounding it. Micah and Delilah stayed near the very edge, because they were aware that even though everyone was protecting the clearing and the young ones as much as they could, some of the Outlanders would still get through.
---------------------------------
Meanwhile, Theo and Margaret were going through the house piece by piece, virtually tearing it apart. They looked through record books and anything else that looked like it could hold some information.
"Look at these things, Marge, they have records of everything. I just don't get *this*," Theo said, pointing to the word 'Mission' written beside some of the names.
Margaret looked at the records for a moment and her eyes widened. "Japheth...wasn't that the leader in that other town? Oh, Theo, do you think these kids are spreading all over?"
Theo sneered openly. "Like the fucking plague."
---------------------------------
Jedediah and Rachael were standing off to one side keeping as much of a watch as they could through the thick corn stalks. Suddenly Jedediah caught some movement off to the side. "Rachael, run," he whispered.
"What? I'm not leaving you!" she exclaimed quietly.
"Don't worry about me, just go," he ordered gently.
Tears misted in Rachael's eyes and she pressed a kiss to Jedediah's lips. Then she ran.
Jedediah took out a machete and shifted it from hand to hand, waiting nervously. Then he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder blade, and everything went black.
Author: Love In Vein
Summary: Takes place six months after the events of Strange Days. All is going well until Lacey returns, bringing with her some adults and all sorts of new problems. How will Micah deal with this? Will everyone survive intact?
Disclaimer: Stephen King owns the original story; Micah, Danny, etc. and COTC 2 are owned by Paramount; Theo and the other Outlanders, Delilah, Zephaniah, Mina, Jakob and Keren are owned by me, and Rachael and Meagan are based on real-life COTC superfans Rachael and Meagan.
Part 4
It had to have been about four in the morning when Danny was jolted awake by a sharp pain is his arm. He sat up and stretched, then looked around to get his bearings. He had fallen asleep on the couch with the others, even though they had all pledged to stay awake. He realized that his arm was lodged in between the back cushions and was being leaned on by Micah.
"Micah...Micah," he whispered and tried to shake his friend awake. "Damn it, Micah, wake up!"
Micah's eyes slowly came open and he looked at Danny with annoyance. "What?" he asked.
"Well, for one, we all fell asleep. Two, you're leaning on my arm!"
Micah grinned sheepishly and leaned forward. Danny pulled his arm free and rubbed it. "Gee, thanks. Now, what are we going to do?"
"The lookouts obviously haven't come yet, so it seems that we are not in immediate danger as of this minute," but even as he said that he knew. They were coming.
---------------------------------
Theo led the small group of adults on the main road towards the town. Lacey walked behind him next to Margaret, her gait slow and slightly unsure. She was beginning to have second thoughts. She shook her head and pushed those thoughts to the side. She just knew she was doing the right thing.
"So, this is it?" Theo asked, turning his head slightly.
"Yeah, this is Hemingford. It's bigger than Littleton, you know." Lacey replied.
"It doesn't look so bad to me," commented Kevin.
"Well, it is. It's way worse than Littleton. The leader of these kids has this thing and thinks he is way more powerful than just about anyone," Lacey retorted, lying just a little. She wasn't about to tell them that Micah actually *was* more powerful than a lot of people.
"So we are dealing with kids who are not just psychotic, but under the sway of some delusional teenager? That's just great," Kevin said.
"Don't worry about it. That's all he is, delusional," Margaret tried to reassure him.
"Even so, we have to be ready," said Theo seriously.
---------------------------------
Zephaniah was standing on the lookout platform with Jakob when he saw a small group in the distance coming towards them. "Look! That's gotta be them!" Zephaniah exclaimed to Jakob.
"Then we'd better go and warn the others," said Jakob, jumping down from the platform. "You go to Micah's house and get them and I'll begin getting the other children to the clearing, okay?"
Zephaniah nodded. "Okay, but hurry!" he yelled as he began to run as fast as he could towards the house.
---------------------------------
Micah was about to say something more to Danny when there was a loud and frantic banging on the door. Jedediah jumped up to answer it and when he did Zephaniah practically ran over him to speak to Micah.
"Micah!" Zephaniah panted with urgency. He took a few gulps of air and then started again. "Micah, they're coming. Five or six of them."
"The Outlanders are here? What's going to happen?" asked Mina, who had joined the teenagers when she heard Zephaniah's loud banging.
Delilah put her arm around the younger girl and squeezed her shoulders reassuringly. "You'll be safe with us," she said.
"Where's Jakob?" Micah asked.
"He went to start the warning. Most of the children will be in the clearing when you get there," Zephaniah answered.
Danny got up and began to go to the door. "I have to get Keren. I promised her I would protect her," he told the others.
"And you will," Micah started. "But you must stay here with us. It is too dangerous to go out there alone."
"Then how can it be safe for Keren? And with Lacey out there, she might be in a lot more danger. Micah, I have to go," Danny said resolutely.
Micah sighed with resignation. "I understand," he said finally. He briefly looked out the window where he saw that some of the children were running towards the clearing with various weapons in hand. "You should hurry, then. Find her...but be careful."
"I will," Danny replied, and then he was out the door and gone.
"We must go now," Delilah said quietly. "There isn't much time. They know this house."
"Come on then, enough talking!" Rachael exclaimed, her voice slightly raised.
"Rach, we'll be okay," Jedediah soothed.
"No, she's right. We must get there as quickly as possible," Micah said and started towards the door.
The rest of the small group followed him.
---------------------------------
Danny was jogging through the streets when he finally saw Keren going in the direction of the field. "Keren!" he called.
She turned around and smiled with relief when their eyes met. She ran over to him and hugged him fiercely. "Danny, why aren't you with Micah?" she asked.
"I had to find you. I couldn't just let you be out here alone," he told her. Then he realized that Tabitha was nowhere to be seen. "Tabitha didn't stay with you?"
"No, Jakob offered to look after her being that she's pregnant and still pretty distraught about Japheth."
"Oh, that was a very good idea. Jakob's a good fighter. She'll be safe with him," Danny said and squeezed her hand. It was then that he saw some figures moving closer. He couldn't tell whether or not they were children. "I think we need to move."
---------------------------------
Lacey noticed that the town seemed curiously empty. Doors were open and all the houses looked positively abandoned. Where was everyone?
"Where is everyone?" Theo said, vocalizing her thoughts.
"I don't know. Maybe they knew we were coming," she said, not telling them that it was probably her fault that they had known Outlanders were in the area.
"But just look at this place for a minute," Margaret said, a small amount of wonder in her voice. "Are you sure that *children* live here?"
The outlanders stopped for a minute to take in the look of the town. The stores and restaurants where obviously deserted, and looked like they had been stripped of what was important and then locked up. But the sidewalks looked meticulous and it seemed as if someone had been careful in caring for the flowers and trees that lined the streets. To take a quick peek down the side streets you would see those strangely abandoned homes, but their lawns were weeded and groomed and lovely. The town hall was freshly painted and a sign near the door listed the times of something called 'His Court.' In the distance loomed the church, but even from their place they could tell it was well cared-for. Even the bell in the bell tower was gleaming in the early morning sun.
"Yeah, it sure doesn't look like children live here. Why would *children* care for a place in such a nice way?" asked Theo.
"Because, don't you see, they're not regular children. Keeping this town as nice and clean as it always was, is one of the things *he* requires of them," Lacey struggled to explain.
"But why?" Margaret asked.
"I don't really know. It was just one of those things," answered Lacey in an exasperated tone of voice. "Now shouldn't we be going to the main house? I mean, I bet they've already left it by now, though."
"We'll go anyway just in case," Theo said.
---------------------------------
When they got to the main house, the adults didn't hide their shock. The house Micah, Delilah, and Danny lived in was an impressive structure, to be sure. It was large and white and Victorian, with a flower-lined walkway leading up to wide, stone steps and a pair of massive glass-paned doors in front. Theo and Kevin walked up the steps with a little bit of trepidation. Kevin grabbed the doorknob and twisted it experimentally. It was locked. The two men looked at each and Theo shrugged, then took a baseball bat from one of the others and smashed in the delicate flower pattern on the glass. "No problem," he said with a smile.
Kevin reached his arm in and unlocked the door, and the group filed in one by one. They stood in the main hallway and listened intently for the sound of voices or movement. It was eerily quiet. "There's no one here," Kevin said with disappointment.
"No, I had a feeling there wouldn't be. Why don't we split up?" Theo suggested. "Margaret and I will stay here and see if we can find any clues to where everyone might have gone."
The adults agreed and left the home in separate directions, careful to step around the shattered glass that littered the doorway.
---------------------------------
Once Micah and the others has reached the Sacred Clearing they were almost immediately bombarded by questions. Micah saw that Danny and Keren had made it there safely and smiled warmly at them.
"Brothers and sisters, please remain calm. Yes, there is of course cause for alarm, but we cannot panic," Micah said, and he was aware that he was almost pleading with them. "The older ones among us must spread out around the circle to stop the Outlanders from desecrating it. The young ones must stay close to the middle for the utmost safety."
The children began to speak among themselves and the teenagers started to move out of the clearing and into the fields surrounding it. Micah and Delilah stayed near the very edge, because they were aware that even though everyone was protecting the clearing and the young ones as much as they could, some of the Outlanders would still get through.
---------------------------------
Meanwhile, Theo and Margaret were going through the house piece by piece, virtually tearing it apart. They looked through record books and anything else that looked like it could hold some information.
"Look at these things, Marge, they have records of everything. I just don't get *this*," Theo said, pointing to the word 'Mission' written beside some of the names.
Margaret looked at the records for a moment and her eyes widened. "Japheth...wasn't that the leader in that other town? Oh, Theo, do you think these kids are spreading all over?"
Theo sneered openly. "Like the fucking plague."
---------------------------------
Jedediah and Rachael were standing off to one side keeping as much of a watch as they could through the thick corn stalks. Suddenly Jedediah caught some movement off to the side. "Rachael, run," he whispered.
"What? I'm not leaving you!" she exclaimed quietly.
"Don't worry about me, just go," he ordered gently.
Tears misted in Rachael's eyes and she pressed a kiss to Jedediah's lips. Then she ran.
Jedediah took out a machete and shifted it from hand to hand, waiting nervously. Then he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder blade, and everything went black.