John stared at the body. Kanaya had gently lifted Vriska off her lap several minutes ago, and was now leaning over Karkat along with Sollux and Jade, but John was having trouble moving his legs. Her eyes were still open, yellow and wide. Her mouth was slightly ajar, and stained blue with blood that trickled in a thin stream out of her lips. Terezi had fallen to her knees with a thump about twenty seconds ago and sat, motionless. John began to shake slightly, Vriska had been awake just a few minutes ago. She had been awake and jumping and-
John exhaled slowly, then glanced at Karkat. His jaw was clenched, Kanaya carefully dressing the wound while Jade and Sollux applied pressure. He knew he should be over there, at least for support if nothing else but his feet remained planted in the same spot.
Surprisingly, several seconds later he found his knees firmly planted to the floor. The impact had jarred him, causing his view to shift to the window that overlooked the city. There was a thick black curtain pushed aside, to block out sunlight when the time came, but it was not needed now. The stars twinkled aimlessly over the crumbling tops of buildings.
He heard a soft exhale. John looked back down to see that Terezi had slumped forward even more, her head nearly reaching the bloodstained floor. John moved closer to her, his hand raised, unsure of whether a friendly gesture would be helpful.
He slowly put his hand to her shoulder lightly. She responded by collapsing, head landing solidly in John's lap, the rest of her body curved. She wasn't crying or even shaking, just utterly still.
Just then a sound ripped through the night, one John hadn't heard in so long.
"Is that...helicopters?" He croaked. Kanaya stiffened. Sure enough she heard the humming rhythm of propellor blades above them.
"Shit." She muttered. "Not now, not now, we're too close."
"Kanaya-is it?" Karkat asked.
"It's a sweep." She said. "Supply drop, doesn't happen that often. And when it does all hell breaks loose let me tell you."
Sollux groaned loudly. "This is really fucking terrible timing. They drop the goods not that far away and that means that as soon as those fucking copters leave there's gonna be a mob of starving people fighting over the good stuff."
Just then there was a loud crackling sound, then a male voice echoed throughout the city. It wasn't unlike a school announcement, John thought offhand, but on a much greater scale.
"Attention inhabitants of Quarantined Sector SW-79 under Project Haven. We are here to inform you that the Haven Project is being shut down under orders of the United States Government. This will be the last remaining supply drop to be deposited in the city."
There was another crackling noise and the voice faded. The helicopter blades were louder, they seemed to be passing just above the ceiling. No one said anything for several seconds until Jade spoke.
"Shut down? What does this mean? What about us?" Her voice hung in the empty air. Kanaya shook her head, without an answer.
"They won't tell us anything." Sollux said irritably. "There must be a good reason they're cutting us off even more."
"But what is it?" Kanaya finished.
John swallowed, a lump in his throat, and stretched his neck once again to look out the window.
In that same moment, hundreds of miles away, Rose Lalonde awoke with a start.
next chapter will be a.) of significant length and b.) done&uploaded this weekend
thanks for sticking with me! :)