I am a burglar: Yeah, you better...
Al Drin Hoshizora: Well, Ghoul wasn't exactly wrong to be worried.
Razorback 234: Great.
Antha1: Oh come on, don't be too hard on Jill. After all, she. . . um. . . never mind.
Arabella stalked down the empty streets surrounding the Boss' former hideout. Behind her, the Boss and several of his men trailed closely behind in large green trucks, weapons prepared.
The Boss had decided to check the hideout base first, since that was where most of the Freaks had been first eradicated. Much of the hideout, as well as the surrounding areas, had been left heavily damaged after the massive fight that had broken out months ago, and thus, the area had been mostly abandoned, with the Freaks having moved back into their original homes now that the Others were no longer a threat. This, as the Boss had reasoned, could've given the ferals the opportunity to hide in the area.
"Have you found anything?" The Boss called out to Arabella from within the truck. The young Other was currently on all fours, sniffing the air while trying to catch the scent of any ferals that would be hiding nearby.
"It's. . . complicated," She replied to the Boss, standing on her feet. "Yeah, I'm getting the scent of the ferals, but it's mixed with the scent of regular Others, and Freaks who were passing by."
"Blast it!" The Boss said in frustration, slamming his fist on the steering wheel.
"Hey, this place was home to thousands of people for nearly a year," Arabella pointed out. "That scent doesn't just go away overnight."
"You would've thought it have left after several months, though," The Boss grumbled.
Next to him, Bill was sitting in the passengers seat, half-awake and half-asleep. Since he'd had nothing better to do for the day, he'd decided to accompany the Boss in their search, though he'd secretly doubted they'd turn up any results. Currently, he was occupied thinking of the upcoming Super Bowl.
He was snapped out of his thoughts when the phone rang. Taking it out of his pocket, he found it was Jill.
Confused as to why she would call him at this time, he picked up the phone and said, "Yes, honey?"
"Riley got attacked by a feral," He heard Jill say on the other line.
Bill's eyes went wide. "What?!" He shouted, much louder than he'd intended. The Boss, who had been driving, accidentally swerved the truck before coming to a stop.
"Bill, what was that about?" He asked, confused, though Bill was too distracted by what ill had said to notice.
"Don't worry, she's okay," Jill said to him. "Ghoul saved her. But Meg was hurt, and she's being taken to the hospital."
Bill, calmed down now that he knew Riley was safe, asked, "Where did this happen?"
"At the school," Jill said.
"The school!" Bill exclaimed, looking up. "Thank you, honey!" With that, he ended the phone call.
Giving the Boss a nudge, Bill said, "That was my wife. She told me an attack had happened at our daughter's school. It was from a feral."
The Boss' eyes went wide, and he turned to Arabella, who was still searching the streets. "Arabella!" He shouted to her, and the young Other turned to face him, an exasperated look on her face.
"What?" She asked, annoyed.
"Get in the truck!" The Boss commanded. "We're going to school!"
"Oh, joy," Arabella muttered, rolling her eyes. Nevertheless, she walked over to the truck and hopped into the back with the men. Then, the trucks turned down the street and began to drive towards the school.
After dropping Meg off at the hospital, Ghoul had driven back to her apartment. Noose's car was in the parking lot, signalling that he had gotten home from his interview.
"Get out," She said to Riley. The blonde nodded and got out of the car hesitantly. Ghoul did the same, slamming the car door roughly. Then, she took Riley by the wrist and led her to the apartment door. Opening it, she walked Riley up the stairs.
Riley gulped. She could tell that Ghoul was mad. "Um, you and mom were on the phone," She recalled.
Ghoul nodding her head slightly signaled for Riley to continue. "Well, how long am I going to be with you?" Riley asked, scratching the back of her head.
"Until it's absolutely safe," Ghoul replied. She led Riley up the stairs to her floor. Once they were at her floor, she knocked on her door.
The door creaked open, revealing Noose in his pajamas. "So, Ghoul, my interview went-" The chubby, middle-aged Other paused when he saw Riley standing next to Ghoul, shuffling her feet awkwardly.
Turning to Ghoul, he said, "I hope you have an explanation for this."
Ghoul pouted. "Just let us in," She demanded.
A couple hours later, Riley was lying in Ghoul's bed, staring up at the ceiling blankly. She could hear Ghoul and Noose still bickering with each other in the living room.
"That girl's mother is totally irresponsible!" Ghoul was shouting, letting out her pent-up feelings to her roommate. "How could she send Riley to school unsupervised at a time like this?!"
"Now Ghoul, calm down," Noose replied. "Riley is thirteen; she's a big girl. Jill can't be babying her all the time."
"But she's supposed to keep her safe!" Ghoul shouted back. "That's what mothers do!"
"Well you can't shelter a teenage girl," Noose pointed out.
"That's not sheltering, it's common sense!" Ghoul screamed, stamping her foot.
At that point, a voice from the room next to Ghoul and Noose's called out, "Hey, could you keep it down in there? I'm trying to sleep."
There was an awkward silence, and Ghoul said, "Sorry."
Turning back to Noose, she then said, in a hushed voice, "Seriously, though, Riley needs us now. We were the ones who looked out for her during the apocalypse. Now we have to look out for her in the post-apocalypse."
Noose let out a sigh. "Alright, but so long as her parents are fine with it," He said.
In the bedroom, Riley had been listening in on the conversation. She let out a deep sigh.
As she drifted off to sleep, she could tell immediately that her life had gotten much more complicated.
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