"... And why wouldn't you two be?" The familiar voice of Mae's mother interrupted them from behind, causing both of them to freeze up.
One word was uttered at the same time by both girls. "... Shit."
Mae put on her best grin that usually ended up reassuring her mom, knowing full well that it probably wouldn't work after what she likely just heard.
"Uh, nothing, Mom! It's fine, we're just talking about playing a game, and we were going to fetch Angus, Germ, and Gregg and bring them back here! Been talking about it all week!" She could've sworn her pitch went a little higher than normal, and she was sure she heard a smack right beside her. Candy Borowski didn't seem too convinced nor impressed, and Bea was pinching the bridge of her muzzle, muttering expletives.
"You know, I might've been inclined to believe you had you not added that last part onto there." Her mom replied.
"What? We ha-... Ah heck." She facepalmed, hard.
"Yup." Ms. Borowski sighed. "Look, I wanted to give you time to figure out what you wanted to talk to me about, and I stand by what I said. But from what I just heard, it sounds like you two are about to get into some serious trouble, am I wrong?" She asked with a frown.
"I-" Bea had already slapped Mae's mouth shut with her claw, catching her by surprise.
"Ma'am, she will tell you tonight, I'll make sure of it. If she doesn't, I will. But, we do really need to get our friends, please." Bea requested, willing to say anything to get past her. Even so, she meant what she said. Mae looked at Bea, slightly hurt. "Bea, n-" Bea shushed her with a glare as if to say 'You're lucky if we get that much, Mae.'
Ms. Borowski's eyebrow raised as she seemed to think that over for a few seemingly-long seconds. Finally, her arms slacked and she let out a frustrated groan. "Fine, fine."
Mae sighed in relief, "Oh eff, thank you, Mo-"
Her mom interrupted, "But, I'm coming with. In fact, I'll drive. We can ride in my car."
Mae looked awestruck, fumbling for some way to get her to stay out of it for her own sake, "But, wait, no! You don't have to! I don't want you getting h-!"
"Hurt? Exactly. That's why I'm going." She stated with casual finality.
"But, Mo-!" Interrupted once more, her mom continued. "No buts, Mae!" Her mom shouted. Mae jumped back, slightly, taken aback by the force of her voice and by the fact that she'd yelled in the first place. Her mom's face was resolute, set in stone, and so was her choice. Mae's face dropped
"... Mae. Look at me." Her mom had moved up to her, and slowly wrapped her in another hug. "I spent all that time while you were at college worrying and thinking about you. You came back, and I thought we'd be close again, but instead you were so distant… Even when we talked every morning, you were still closed off. Then I heard about you falling and nearly..." She heard her mom sniffle.
"I'd never felt so worried, confused, or… Alone in my entire life. Stan might've been there, but I wasn't… Not all the way. We weren't even sure you were going to wake up!" Mom's tears were beginning to flow freely now.
Mae just held her mom tightly, just now beginning to realize the stress that she'd accidentally put her own mother through. "... I know you get into all sorts of shenanigans, Mae. It's your thing. It was my thing around your age, too."
A moment later, she took a few steps back and looked Mae directly in her eyes. "I may not understand exactly what you're going through… But I can't sit by anymore and just hope you come home every night."
Mae remained silent for a few seconds before piping up, "... You used to do stuff like this all the time, too?"
Candy smirked, "Remember Jenny's Field? That was just the surface, kitten. Who do you think you got your 'crime' habits from?"
Bea deadpanned, "... Oh my god, it all makes so much sense now."
"Yup! Welcome to the family, Bea. Like mother, like daughter." Candy chuckled. "I've got plenty of stories… But first, I want to hear what's been going on. Tonight, okay?"
Mae nodded, still frustrated that she couldn't get past her mom on this anymore, but oddly happy that she wasn't going to hide things from her anymore: Another soul to share the shit that her mind seems to always be covered in.
"Now, where are we going?" She grabbed the car keys and her jacket from the coat hanger by the front door.
"We've gotta pick up Gregg, Germ, and Angus. Germ and Gregg are together, so we're getting Angus first." Bea replied as they walked out. Mae grabbed her thin jacket on their way out, checking to see if her pocket knife was there. Seeing that it was, she muttered a quick 'Thanks, Greggors' as she walked out and joined the rest of them. Gregg had seen fit to buy her a self-defense weapon immediately after the chaos had died down, and she was more than for it. She never let her mom know about it though, of course.
"Sounds like we're going for the friend that's alone." 'Almost like they're using the buddy system'. "... This has something to do with the detached arm that you kiddos found not too long ago, doesn't it?"
Mae froze, still not ready to talk about it yet. She tried to think up an excuse to throw her off, but Bea beat her to the punch.
"Yes, Ms. Borowski." Mae looked absolutely helpless by this point, and Bea only felt slightly bad. Slightly.
Candy shivered slightly as she opened her car door, "And we're not telling this to my sister, why?"
Mae piped up this time, "Because the cops take too long and Aunt Mall Cop never believes me when I tell her something is wrong."
Her mom sighed, "She gives you more credit than you might think, kitten." She put the keys into the ignition and twisted. It wasn't long before they were heading to Video Outpost "Too".
"Yeah, well… She never shows it." She wanted to say something else, but she'd reserve that for tonight. Telling her mom that she didn't trust her own Aunt right now wouldn't be the best of ideas at the moment.
At that very second, Mae's phone rang. Picking it up, she answered a call from Gregg. "Gregg! Hey, we're on our way to pick up Angus now, everything good over there?"
"Hey dude, uhh… I'm not sure I would say 'good' exactly."
Mae's stomach started feeling uneasy, "What's up?"
"Well, Good news: I got Germ to stay. Bad news: We've been hearing weird shit outside our store. We've locked the doors, but… Front's kind of made of glass. And my boss hasn't seen fit to buy us a gun no matter how many times I ask her too."
"Shit… Alright, sit tight, dude. We're on our way." She moved to tell her mom to head there first, but Gregg interrupted her.
"No! … I mean, get Angus first. I've got Germ here, we're good. Cap'n is a big hunk of a guy, but he doesn't have anyone to watch his back. We'll be fine. Just, uh… Double-time it, dude."
Mae hesitated, but nodded. "... Alright, man. Let me know if it gets worse. Mom's driving us down there now."
"Wait, your mom is in on it now?"
"... Kinda. Long story, we'll tell ya when we pick you up."
"Holy shit, never thought I'd see the day. Alright, see ya soon." The phone clicked as the call ended.
"Mom, can we go any faster, please?"
"... Sure, honey, but not by much. We'll be there in about a minute or two. What's going on?"
"Well… Gregg & Germ are getting worried. They've locked up for now, but Gregg said to still get Angus first. I'll call him real quick to make sure he's doing okay."
Mae looks up Angus up on her contacts and calls him. After a singular ring, the phone is answered by Angus as hoped.
The bear's baritone voice answers, "Mae?"
"Angus, hey! Is everything good over there, nothing weird going on?"
"Well, aside from some weird noises here and there, not really." Mae thought she could pick up a tinge of nervousness, but she couldn't be certain.
"... Shit. Angus, get ready to join us, we're coming in Mom's car. We've gotta hurry to the Snack Falcon right afterwards."
"Sure, I'll be re-" A knocking noise in the background interrupts him. "Hey, sir, we're closing for the nigh-" She hears glass shatter in the background. Angus's baritone voice barked from the other end of the line. "HEY! THAT'S PRIVATE PROPERTY!" The line cut abruptly, sending chills down her spine.
Mae swears outwardly, "Mom! Step on it!"
Thankfully, Ms. Borowski didn't ask questions as they rounded the corner, arriving at the Video Outpost Too store to find a broken in window and a tussle happening inside. Pulling into the parking lot, Mae and Bea were quick to get out of the car immediately and charge in after Angus with Mae's mom following right behind them.
As they jump through the busted window, they see the store front in terrible shape along with Angus trying to fight off a man in a trenchcoat wielding a knife of his own as the bear is backed into a wall, already covered in shallow lacerations. 'Cultists… Fucking called it.'
Mae rushes in first with her knife brandished. Their lack of voice usage pays off as she thrusts the dagger into the cultist's side. "SUCK MY ASS, YOU FANATIC FUCK!" The miner arcs his back away from the stab wound as he cries out in pain. Bea combines that with a solid punch straight to the nose, knocking him backwards.
The man grips his side tenderly, shaking as he backs off towards the back of the store. He's backed up against the back wall now as Mae and Bea form up around Angus, watching out for any hidden tricks. Her mom catches up to see her stab the man. She nearly flips when she witnesses this, but pauses when she sees the unnaturally glowing eyes of the man backed against the wall.
"What… Mae?" She looks between her and the wounded cultist.
Mae doesn't dare take her eyes off of him, but answers quickly. "Remember when I fell and nearly died?"
"Y-yes? I'd really rather not be re-"
Mae cuts her off, "These fucks tried to shoot me when I was running from them. I didn't just trip, they ran me off a fucking cliff! They're a cult, mom! They've been sacrificing people in Possum Springs that don't 'belong' in this community..."
Candy looked baffled, unbelieving of what she was hearing.
Mae sniffed as the grip in her knife got tighter. "They killed Casey… he never got a chance to even leave home before those fuckers murdered him for their own delusional bullshit!"
The cultist's piped up for the first time, chuckling dryly. "We did what was needed. He was useless to our belov'd community. All he was goin' to amount to was gettin' high on meth and bein' blown to gory bits in his friend's trailer. We gave 'im mercy by endin' him early." He sneered at Mae directly, "And the town was doing so well, too. Until you and your friends fucked us over and sealed the majority of our members in their own fuckin' tombs."
Mae's mom couldn't believe what she was hearing. They'd basically admitted what they did in front of her face, and her daughter looked ready to kill. A part of her wanted to stop her from doing something rash, but she couldn't help but to feel similarly. She couldn't stop herself from letting out a growl as she realized how absolutely twisted it all sounded. "... You killed him? You killed a child?" She took a step forward bearing her teeth and unsheathing her claws. "What in heavens could have possessed you to do such a horrible thing?! Just who are you people?!"
The cultist fidgeted as he favored his side, pulling out his own knife, his earlier bravado gone as he eyed Mae's mom with a new sense of fear. Candy didn't take that too well. "... You take one step towards these children, and I'll skin you alive. I'm calling the authorities, and you better not move an inch, or I'll gut you myself." She finished with a growl as she dug out her phone while trying to keep an eye on him. Mae was momentarily surprised to hear that kind of language come from her own church-loving mother. She suddenly felt more interested in what kind of antics her mom used to get into at her age.
For once, Mae was feeling a little bit more in control now. They had him pinned, her mom was about to call the police. All they had to do was keep him there. For once, they had the upper ha-!
Crack
Mae's breath hitches as she hears a loud thud followed by the sound of a phone dropping behind her where her mom was standing. "... Mom?" The weirdest part at that moment was that as she glanced at the man they'd pinned, he'd looked shocked.
Hearing no response, she turned around to see her mom lying on the ground face first with another masked figure standing over her with a wooden bat. She could see the wound on the back of her mom's head clearly, and it didn't look good. She could feel her legs and arms trembling as she took a step towards Candy. She thought she could hear a dull voice shouting behind her, but it was distant, and the numbness in her head was causing her to ignore it entirely.
Something snapped, just like that horrible day with Andy Cullen. All she could focus on was her mom's unmoving body on the ground. The rest around her, including the figure that did the deed, were nothing but shapes. The only thing she understood, at that moment, was how twisted and unsafe the figure in front of her looked, and that she'd brought her mother along in harm's way. She'd let it happen. It was her fault. In her mind, the shapes are going rampant, and the voices are overwhelming her every thought.
Just as the cultist was about to speak, Mae dropped her knife as she let out a bloodcurdling scream, unsheathing her claws before lunging at the cultist. The seemingly young man didn't have time to brace himself before she's already upon him, slashing up his torso and clawing at his mask as she tried to get at his face. The cultist tried to put up a fight, but was unable to withstand the frenzy of claw swipes across his body. His resistance devolved into terrified screaming as numerous lacerations were inflicted across his upper body and face. Tears from Mae begin to mix with his blood as her cries echo out into the town with his own. She effectively straddled him as each swipe sunk deep into his flesh until finally, one of her claws swiped straight across his throat.
The man began gurgling for breath as his lifeblood continued to seep out in droves. Yet, Mae continued, wanting to remove the shape entirely from existence for even daring to think about harming her mom. The entire group was too transfixed to even do anything but watch as the man was viciously killed in front of them. The distraction is enough for the stabbed cultist to slip around them and leave without them knowing.
As the cultist escapes, Mae begins letting up. Angus takes this opportunity to approach Mae. Bea, for once, wasn't able to move as she failed to process how to even handle this situation. Mae had just murdered a man. She couldn't blame her one bit, considering what the bastard had just done, but for once, she was actually afraid to approach her best available friend. This was worse than the Andy Cullen incident. A baseball bat is easily removed from someone, if done right. Mae's claws aren't though, and she had so much more flexibility with them. She wanted to pull Mae away from the body and comfort her, but getting close could be exceedingly dangerous.
Regardless of the danger, Angus calls out for her, "Mae!"
The shout seems to have some effect as it stops her paw before she strikes again. Angus, taking a deep breath, gulps as he moves around her into her line of sight. What he saw scared him deeply. Mae's pupils were narrow slits as tears were sliding down her damp cheeks. Mixed with her tears are splatters of blood from the now dead cultist below her. She gazes in the direction of Angus for a few seconds before going to bring down the claw again.
She's stopped mid-swing as Angus grabs the arm firmly in place. "... Mae. Stop." She struggles in place for a few more seconds before eventually relenting. "It's over, now. You got him."
"... M-Mom?" She muttered, looking back up at him now.
"... She's alive, just knocked out." Mae hesitantly nodded before going limp into his arms. Bea tended to her mom, checking the head wound as she was already on the phone with emergency medical services. Truth was, he didn't know for sure if her mom was okay, but he doubted hearing anything worse would be good right now. 'I've got to keep her together for now.'
"Yes, Video Outpost Too, get here now! I don't care if you're backed up for whatever fucking reason, we just got assaulted, and Ms. Borowski is out cold!" A few seconds later, she sneers, "Thank you!" She ends the call, "Fuck. Ugh. They're coming guys, they'll be here in a few. Don't worry."
Mae glanced at Bea through her tear-ridden eyes. "C-Call Aunt Mall Cop... Please." Bea nodded and started dialing the number in to call.
The door bursts open at that point, showing Gregg and Germ sprinting through, then freezing as they see the bloodied corpse of the cultist with his blood all over Mae's claws and face.
"Holy fuck… Mae!" He sprints up to her and wraps her up in a tight hug of his own. Mae's sobbing returns as she hugs him back just as tightly. "T-They… They could've killed my mom, dude… They could've killed Angus! This prick fucking hurt Mom!"
"Shh… You're good, dude. You saved 'em... It's alright." He tried to reassure her as best as he could, with Germ looking bewildered for once. It wasn't often they saw emotion on his face, but she had more important things to worry about.
It was at that point that Candy Borowski started stirring. "...Mnnnn…"
"Ms. Borowski, try not to move so much right now, you took a pretty hard hit…" Bea held her relatively still.
"...Mae? Is she… okay?" She slurred her speech a little bit, but was at least conscious.
"Mom!" Mae released Gregg and ran up to her mom. "I'm here, mom…"
"Oh… Kitten, thank goodness." She held her head tenderly as she tried to sit up anyways. Mae wrapped her arms around Candy before she can, and they hold each other as she tries not to move too much. "... I'm just glad it's over."
Mae let out another sniffle, "Y-yeah… In a way, anyways."
"... I really did miss a lot from your life, didn't I, honey?" Her mom commented groggily. Mae chuckled dryly through her tears, "You have no idea, Mom…"
"Then help me get a better idea, Kitten, please… I'm glad your friends know, but… I don't want to lose you, not when I could be doing something to help you instead."
"I…" Mae remained silent for a tense moment on her own part before nodding, "... Okay, but after you rest up, please. It's really not safe out here, once we're back at our place, I'll explain everything, I promise."
"... How… Unsafe are we talking?" She asked while favoring the back of her head slightly.
"Well… One escaped, and the…" Mae looked like she was about to puke, "O-other…". She leaned to the side the brutally eviscerated corpse of the cultist who had hit her mom as a surprise attack.
"O-Oh, my god… Who…" She looked back at her daughter as she finally noticed her bloody claws and face for the first time.
"D-Did you…?" Mae seemed to lock up for a few seconds before shakily nodding, her gaze not leaving the ground as she stared at it with a glazed over expression. Mae braced herself for whatever freakout her mom was going to exhibit, and how badly it would affect their current and future times together.
Instead, Ms. Borowski held her daughter closely, running her hand through Mae's hair softly.
"Honey, I want you to listen to me. Even if I have to keep telling you this, which I will, you need to listen to me everytime." She paused a few seconds to let that sink in. "I. Love. You. With all of my heart. That will never change, and I won't blame you for this going down how it did. I loved you after what happened with Andy, and I'll keep loving you now, understand?"
Mae shakily nodded, "I love you, too… I-I just… He hit you out of nowhere, and my brain… broke just thinking about it. When I saw you on the ground, I went… Feral." She sniffled. "I-I… killed him." The word felt so wrong to her now, now that she'd done it.
"Kitten, you acted on impulse to protect me." She held Mae firmly and looked her in the eyes as steadily as she could, "You were defending us and yourself, you did what you had to. I'm just sorry it… Had to be you to step up like that."
"... I'm not. He had it coming. I can… Deal with it, as long as you're all okay." Mae replied emptily. "I've just… Never thought I'd have to do that."
"If so… You have your best friends… your dad… Me. We'll all help you deal with it. Whoever these people are…"
Bea interjected having finished getting off the phone with Aunt Mall Cop. "Ms. Borowski, your sister's coming, nearly here already. She was already on patrol."
"Thank goodness… She's going to believe this more than the ambulance and other officers would. Thank you, Beatrice." She turned back to Mae, "Now… Don't you worry, you're not getting in trouble. None of us will allow it."
Nodding, a horrible thought returned to Mae's head, one that she knew that her mom wouldn't want to hear, but she was in the thick of it now. "... Mom? How… Many people do you actually trust in Possum Springs?"
That question seemed to catch her mom off-guard as she blinked. "That's… a big question to ask, honey. As in, out of everyone?" Mae nodded warily. "I… Well. Your father, of course. Molly… Pastor K, your friends, Casey's parents, my church friends… I've never really had a reason to doubt most of Possum Springs, even the mischievous kids out there." Her mom's voice took on a more worried tone. "... Why do you ask?"
"Mom… The cultists, they're part of the t-"
"Candy! Mae!" Aunt Molly opened the door, interrupting their talk. "What happ…" She took in the bloody scene before her. "The hell…" Her eyes fell upon the blood drip trail from the body in front of her to Mae on the ground where she'd been leaning against Candy. She saw the bloody hands and spatters spread across her face. Even with it being Mae, she couldn't stop herself from habitually placing a hand on her holstered gun. The body had been torn to shreds, and she didn't think she'd ever seen something this gruesome in her field.
"Explain, someone… Now." Molly ordered. She wasn't going to beat around the bush here, someone was dead, and she wanted to know exactly why.
"Molly. Move your hand away from your gun right now." Candy's previous expression had taken on an equally serious one to match her sister's. She wasn't going to put up with this right now. "It was self-defense."
Candy glared into her sister's eyes for any uncertainty that might've led to her covering for her daughter to avoid trouble, but found none. Relaxing slightly, she moved her hand away, letting out a sigh. "This is one hell of a self-defense case."
"The guy hit me in the back of my head with a baseball bat… Kitten didn't take it well." She rubbed the back of her head tenderly, wincing as she touched it.
'And suddenly, my pity for the dead man has dropped.' Molly thought to herself. "He did what?"
Mae fidgeted uncomfortably, "I-It's a really long story, Aunt Molly." Molly noted how she didn't use her nickname. 'I don't think she's ever called me my real name…' "I-If Mom isn't hurt too bad, can we all head back home as soon as possible? I… Can tell everything there, but It's not feel safe here…"
Molly nodded, "Sure, Mae… Only if she's good to go home for the day. Head wounds need to be monitored closely to make sure it doesn't get worse when she falls asleep."
"Thanks… I don't want anyone I don't trust to hear either, so that would be good…" Mae commented anxiously. Molly raised an eyebrow at that. "Why's that?"
"Can you recognize that dude?" She pointed her finger at the cut up corpse.
She closed the door behind her, and closed the curtains along the front windows. Moving up to the body, she tried to recognize the man's face even through the scratches and claw marks. Looking closely, she realized that she did know who it was. "The hell… Dave?"
Mae thought back to before she was chased off a cliff by cultists, "Dave? Would this be the same Dave that knew Lurv, Rick, and… Benny?"
Molly raised an eyebrow, surprised that Mae knew that. "... Yes, actually. How would you know that?"
Mae sighed, running a hand through heir hair in exasperation. "Hoh boy…"
Bea frowned, "Does that mean what I think it means?"
Angus growled in turn, "Some of the cultists weren't at the meeting when the elevator fell through…" he gazed at Mae and Bea with uncertainty. It turned into confusion as they looked back at him with pale faces. It dawned on him as he turned back to Molly.
"... Mae. What are you three talking about?" She prompted with a steady voice. She didn't like what was being implied.
Mae's face paled even further. "U-uh… It's a long story… I tried to tell you bef-"
Bea let out a sigh and interrupted, clearly frustrated and stressed. "Look, this is going to take a while to explain, officer. Can we please take this somewhere safer? I don't want them to catch us off guard like they did with Ms. Borowski…"
Molly's expression softened as she saw the state her sister was in. "... Alright, after the paramedic checks you out first." She pointed to a newly arrived ambulance outside as a pair left the driver and passenger seat, both dressed in paramedic uniforms. Two cop cars had parked by the ambulance, and were approaching the scene to presumably talk to Molly. A tall gray cat with dark blue eyes approached first, and began looking over Candy for serious injuries.
While Candy was being inspected, Molly waved Mae over. The cops she was talking to started looking more into the scene or got busy with setting up a perimeter. Mae joined her in keeping watch at the store entrance, sitting on a counter beside her. The niece looked up at her aunt and noticed just how tired she really looked. She may have rarely liked her aunt's company, but even she knew when to be worried.
"... Mae. I want to talk to you about what happened. What you felt you had to do." Mae flinched at the suggestion, scrunching up her face inadvertently as she tried to ignore the images in her head.
"I… I actually killed him. I… mutilated the man. And I stabbed the other without a second thought. Like…" Mae stuttered, trying to find the right words to describe how she felt.
"Like you were on autopilot?" Mae looked up dazedly for a few seconds, then nodded. "... Yeah. Like autopilot. I've let this shitty autopilot get the best of me so many times, and now two days it's resulted in people getting hurt or killed. I-I feel like I shouldn't regret stopping that dude, but… I do. Like, for a moment, I wasn't… There."
Molly placed a gentle hand on Mae's left shoulder. "Hold onto that worry, Mae. Let it out when needed, but hold onto yourself too." She let her guard down slightly as she slumped against the wall she was leaning against. "You did what you felt you had to do. He hurt my sister, I wouldn't have held back either."
Mae looked surprised for a few seconds, then nodded, appreciating the support Molly was giving so willingly. 'Maybe Aunt Mall Cop isn't so bad after all…' "Still…" She continued, "You're in unchartered territory right now, Mae. Killings don't happen often in Possum Springs, and I've never had to kill someone to uphold the law."
"Aaand, I'm not so sure again." Mae thought with a frown. "Thanks for reminding me, Aunt Mall Cop."
Molly sighed, scratching the back of her head in exasperation, "You know what I mean, just… Be careful. We can deal with this one-off, but if it starts happening more, I don't think I'll be able to cover for you as easily."
Mae glanced at Molly, realizing what she meant now. "... Oh. Right. Shit."
"Yup. Welcome to being an adult, Mae. Law applies to you for real now." At that point, the paramedic that was tending to Candy approached them. "Hey, she should be alright to return home with you two, it's just a minor concussion. Still, bring her up to the ER immediately if she worsens by the time she wants to sleep."
Mae's relief was as obvious as Molly's was. "Thanks for the help, we'll do so if needed. Take care." The paramedic nodded before hopping back into the ambulance with her partner. When the two looked back, the body was covered with fabric, and being prepped to be moved out of sight.
They approached the rest of their group, Molly speaking first. "Alright, crew. Candy's head checks out for now, so we'll be heading back to her place in my car. I know it's going to be cramped, but it's getting dark, and I don't want us splitting up. We'll pick up Candy's car in the morning. All good?"
The group nodded appreciating not having to split up at a time like this. Bea helped Candy steady herself as she stood, catching up to her sister as carefully as she could until they reached Molly's car. Gregg, Germ, and Angus grouped up beside Mae. Together, they walked out into the barely lit evening, surrounded by a few cop cars, one of them being Molly's.
The group let out a sigh as they peered out into the sky for a moment. Mae piped up first, "Shit's going to really hit the fan soon, isn't it?"
Angus nodded, "Pretty possible."
Gregg agreed dryly, "At this point, I'm almost hoping they do it again so I can stab their asses till they effin' die ten times over. I'm tired of their shitty games." He finished as he toyed around with his switchblade.
Germ commented, "... Definitely going to need more dynamite."
Mae smirked while Angus looked at him, expressing his concern. "Err. What? How much exactly do you have at home, and why?"
In one of his rare moments, Germ actually smirked, "More than enough. Could always have more dynamite, dude."
Angus gazed at him in confusion for a few seconds before dismissing it. "Whatever, let's just get the hell out of here. I'm sure I'll have a few days off since I basically got robbed and assaulted today." Gregg held his boyfriend's hand tighter as he said those words, leaning against the bear's shoulder.
As they entered the car, Mae piped up again, "Guys, let's just stick close till this is over, alright? I don't think I could live with myself if I lost even one of you."
"We will, dude. We got you, and we got each other. They ain't got nothin'!" Gregg taunted optimistically. Seeing her crime partner be so supportive brought a smile to her own face, giving rise to the slightest of hopes that shit may not hit the fan.