Expedition Log 5

[lara_the_explorer]

Who: Lara Croft and You
What: Lara returns from the Dead Zone
When: Now.
Where: Castle grounds, Town, or the woods
Rating: PG



Lara returns to Paradisa's safe territory, looking pretty filthy from her outdoor adventuring. But hardly any major injuries, fortunately. When she reached a fork in the road within the woods, she stopped and tried to decide. Should she go straight back to the castle, or just go to town a bit and probably get a drink? Either way, she's gonna be seeing residents from the castle again. Oh well, her alone time was fun while it lasted.

Comments

[lara_the_explorer]

"It's... not as bad as it seems" Lara felt uncomfortable about the kid's reaction. She's too young to hear about the monsters the other residents talked about that stays in the Dead Zone. She doesn't want to scare her about that.

"It's just a place where electronics stop working" And magic, but she's got mixed feelings about that topic right now.

[threeweeksago]

Ellie's a smart kid. Most of the adults around her - back home, at least - might not have thought so, but she's perceptive in a way that would probably surprise some people. So all she does is huff and cross her arms, glaring straight at Lara.

"Okay, there's no way something called the Dead Zone is that harmless. If you're hiding something, I can take it. Seriously, I've seen some pretty fucked up shit."

[lara_the_explorer]

"Okay" Lara sighs. Yeah, she seem to have underestimated this kid, she didn't expect this reaction.

"I only heard stories from the other residents..." Lara shakes her head "About monsters lurking in there. I haven't seen any myself. I didn't stay too long or stray too far"

[threeweeksago]

Even at the mention of "monsters", Ellie doesn't look frightened or surprised. She actually looks... annoyed.

"Ugh, fucking figures," She grumbled. "All the people I talked to the other day were all about telling me how safe and shit this place was. But of course they lied."

Fuck, it was just like the safe zones. You're safe here, none of the Infected will get in, you have nothing to worry about...

"So what kind of monsters are we talking about here?"

[lara_the_explorer]

Lara was silent while Ellie vented. She could understand why people would say this place is safe, and why Ellie would be annoyed since it really isn't.

From what she heard from residents who were here before her, and the fact that she was just at an island full of dinosaurs when she first arrived in Paradisa? This place does not scream safe, even if it is for now.

This kid looks like she's been through hell. Not unlike her. But it makes her feel awful for the kid despite what seems like courage, she's too young to go through such things. Regardless, Lara took the image that she copied from Zelos' giant report on Paradisa, and took the crude sketch of a Collector.

"That's the closest image I could find. It was drawn by one of the residents who went on an expedition to a place called Terre Haute. It's far east of here, about a week's time on horse-back"

She planned on going there, but she had to test the waters first. It looks harder than she thought it would be, since she's already spent half of her ammunition just killing wolves and bears in the woods at the edge of the Dead Zone. How much more with monsters like these?

[threeweeksago]

Now, Ellie has seen monsters. She's gotten up close and personal with horrible, mutated, mindless humans and has definitely killed her fair share of them. But this... thing, whatever it was that the older girl drew, that just kind of creeps her out for reasons she isn't even really sure. Maybe it's because it looked completely inhuman, unlike the Infected.

"Shit... and there are a lot of these things?" She's already planning on how best to defend herself if these things come out of this 'Dead Zone'. It couldn't be that hard to find components for the bombs and such Joel had taught her how to make. She had her switchblade, and her pistol was fully loaded... "Has anyone tried to just... clear them out of there? Or are there too many?"

[lara_the_explorer]

"I'm not going to lie and say there aren't, but those who've been there said they scattered all over Terre Haute, once they knew they were no match against the residents" Lara folds the paper with the sketch and puts them back in her pocket.

"No. Everyone just went home without bothering about these creatures, or the giant ship they crashed in with" Lara shakes her head. It bothers her that no one tried to find answers about these creatures, and it bothers her that she really couldn't make it there without the help of modern transportation.

[threeweeksago]

"... They just... went home." There's a tone of disbelief in Ellie's voice, and she's not even trying to hide it. "Are they fucking stupid?! How can anyone rest easy knowing a bunch of freaky things like that are out there somewhere?"

[lara_the_explorer]

"I don't have all the answers. I wasn't in that expedition to know why they had to go back. I can understand why, they weren't prepared for a fight when they went there. I only went to the edge of the Dead Zone and I'm already almost out of ammunition..." Lara looked down for a second, almost agreeing why the other residents didn't make sure to exterminate all those bugs before they repopulate.