Event: Target

Eve scattered away from the grate with fluffed out fur, looking ridiculous, at the sudden sound and motion of two bodies being thrown back and the sudden appearance of the shield. She meowed in distress and ran back, putting her front paws on the gate to see if everyone made it.

Doc chuckled as Tanner and Riesy got knocked on their butts from the shield abruptly popping back up, looking entirely unsurprised at this turn of events/

Before Tanner could high-five shim, Riesy was skidding on shiz back across the linoleum. S/he couldn't help the slightly hysterical giggle that accompanied the citrusy taste of the shield knocking shim back. "Who's-" s/he gasped through shiz laugh, "who's tossing monkeys now, Sarge?!" s/he called once s/he had come to a stop, limbs akimbo and relaxed in relief.

<Don't laugh at them!> Eve scolded, practically scaling the grate to get a better view, meowing loudly a couple more times, still looking like a sticky, damaged bottle brush. <Are they okay??>

She relaxed a little to hear Riesy make a joke. S/he had to be okay, joking meant people were okay.

<Doc, ask them if there's anything else they want from back here... we need to get moving again. I've decided I hate this place.>

Lilybeth jumped back at the sudden activation of the bubble, managing not to trip over Riesy, Tanner, or her own two feet. God, this place had her on edge. She couldn't believe Doc was just standing there laughing his ass off!

Except, well...she kinda could.

“Pretty sure,” Tanner groaned, from his new position several feet away and once more decidedly prone. He hadn’t anticipated the shield- not that it would have changed anything, they’d still needed to give her the shot, and it wasn’t like a faintly embarrassing knock on the head was any kind of unreasonable cost.

He pushed himself up, looking around to make sure everyone was still accounted for, and that Riesy hadn’t gotten knocked around too badly; Riesy was up, at least, and Doc seemed amused, and Lilybeth was fine-

“Eve? Are you coming back?” he asked, unsettled by the fact that she was still on the far side of the grate. “Did- are you stuck?” He turned, blinking at Doc, and repeated the question. “Is she stuck? Does she need something?”

"They're fine," Doc told Eve, then turned to the others.  "She asked if we want anything else from back there, says we should get out of here.  We should listen."

Isabelle wiped her mouth on the back of her hand and pushed to her knees. Riesy's monkey comment finally penetrated and she turned around.

"Shit! Did I do that?" She asked, scrambling to her feet to try to help Riesy and Tanner up but the world did not like that move and she had to freeze in place while it revolved around her for a hot second.

"Fuck," she cursed, sucking in a deep breath to try and keep from vomiting again.

"Oh my god, Aleeeeeve," Riesy moaned from the floor. Shiz bug bites throbbed, shiz arm was still sore, and shiz head was starting to hurt.

“We- is there anything- would it be a good idea? To take things? Or- should we try and stop, on the way back? Get... useful stuff, to take back with us? For- for camp?” Because it was a good question, and they were there, so maybe they should be trying to get what they could.

Maybe they could take a minute, at least, and he could grab a proper coat, and maybe a backpack, too. Since he hadn’t exactly planned on leaving the school at all.

Lilybeth got ahold of herself and walked over to Riesy to give shim a hand up.

Isabelle pressed one hand over her heart and the other thumb and forefinger against the bridge of her nose, squeezing for a moment before she tried to answer.

"Only essentials, right now. I've got a radio. I can call Dwight and have him get someone out to retrieve all this," she waved a hand to encompass the pharmacy and the store. "Anybody need any prescription meds right now? Or insulin? Asthma or seizure meds? We should stock up on those if any of you need anything like that. Who knows what else is going to happen on this trip," Isabelle sighed.

She tottered over to Lily and Riesy. Tanner at least looked alright but Riesy wasn't the type to lie down on the job so to speak. "Are you hurt?" she asked.

Riesy moaned again in protest but clapped shiz hand into the proferred help up. "Hey, look," s/he said when s/he was vertical again. S/he smiled gratefully at Lilybeth before walking over to grab up shiz pack and hold it under a shelf loaded with pill bottles. "Aleve!" S/he swiped a bunch into the bag. "Now I'll be just dandy."

Doc look at Eve.  "Been eatin' okay?  You need food?"

"Good thought!" Lilybeth said, looking around the pain relief aisle where they were, and noticing Band-Aids and other wound care supplies. She tossed some Bactine into her bag, as well as some Ace bandages.

Eve glanced over to Doc and ducked her head. <I don't know if I've been eating okay, to be perfectly honest. I've never owned a cat, I don't know what this body needs, but I suspect that cats do not survive on bologna, unlike some humans apparently.>

Doc snorted.  "That shit's not food for humans, let alone cats.  C'n check if there's any meat still good.  Be better for you raw, can you stomach it?"

Riesy looked over at Doc's odd question. "She ate the fucking bugs."

S/he looked around at everyone. "Alright, well. If you're gonna take five to call home." She dropped shiz pack on the ground at her feet and shrugged back out of shiz burnt jacket. "I need a new coat."

Eve shot Riesy a Look and a snort. <You can tell Riesy that I merely chewed in self defense. I never swallowed. But... Yeah. I can eat raw meat. I um... I ate some questionable things before Riesy started feeding me.> She looked away, down, and dropped all four paws to the ground. <Most people weren't... very happy to see a stray black cat in the middle of all this. Everyone's got more than enough bad luck without me adding to it. I got chased away until people saw me with Riesy and figured I had an owner.>

She figured since no one answered Isabelle, no one needed anything they couldn't fetch off the shelves, and so she wiggled her way back through to their side of the grate.

Doc scowled thunderously.  "C'mon, let's get you fed.  You recognize any of those people who chased you?"

Tanner let himself relax, just a little, at the notion that Isabelle had a radio, that she could call back to camp and let other people know to come and collect whatever medicine they could, that they wouldn’t need to try and handle that and the task they were supposed to be managing.

How they would deal with the acid lake, he didn’t know, but he was pretty sure they’d at least killed most of the bugs.

But that wasn’t his responsibility, and they were at least mostly okay now, and they were somewhere where he could actually prepare, a little. He needed a coat, he needed a backpack, he should see if they had any snacks, see if there were any more useful tools in the Home and Garden section, grab a first aid kit, at least...

He glanced over in time to catch the way Isabelle pressed her fingers against her forehead, and felt a welling of sympathy- he didn’t know a damn thing about medicine, really, didn’t know the details of what she’d been going through, but it had obviously sucked and she’d been sick, and that on its own was miserable enough. And that-

-he shoved a hand into his pocket, and yes, he did leave the pack of gum there, and maybe it wasn’t much but at least it might help with the taste, might help her settle her stomach some. He drifted over to where Isabelle was standing, and held the pack of gum out, into her line of sight, not wanting to intrude too much, but needing to make the offer.

“It’s mint?” he said, tone turning it into a question. “Well. Wintermint. But- it might help. Your stomach, and your head. Just- that looked... bad.”

Isabelle felt an embarassing rush of tears at his words. It was a sweet gesture. One he didn't have to make. Maybe she'd misjudged this kid. "Thank you," she answered thickly, taking the gum and blinking fast. She cleared her throat and handed back the pack after taking a piece.

"I'm gonna radio in to Dwight and then maybe find some new pants," she laughed. "Go get yourself a thicker coat or something," she suggested, patting Tanner on the shoulder.

The call to Dwight was quick, Isabelle gave him the update on their location and warned him about the bugs and the acid lake. Dwight promised to send someone as soon as he had a team available.

Isabelle tucked the radio back into her pack, pulled out her flashlight and headed off looking for jeans.

"Who chased my cat," Riesy thundered over at Doc. S/he knew Eve wasn't really shiz cat, but s/he wanted her to know. She had support.

S/he looked over to see Tanner's gentle offering and considered him, head to foot. No way the kid was a Martin.

Eve slipped over to Doc's ankles and gave him a quick, drive by rub of her side before heading for the grocery section. She was faintly surprised, since she didn't remember a grocery section, but she hadn't been here in a year or two since she started shopping locally, so maybe it was new.

<No,> she told doc as they walked. <I don't think I was looking at their faces so much as dodging their boots. I remember the guy who closed the door on my tail and broke it though. I wanted to be sure to avoid him by a wide margin, you know?>

Tanner managed a faint, slightly nervous smile at Isabelle’s thanks, and a slightly more genuine- if wry- one at the suggestion that he shop around a little.

“Yeah,” he said, ducking his head in acknowledgement of both points and faint bafflement at the gentle touch. “I didn’t really plan on- this. Should pick up some things,” he agreed, stepping away to give her space to look for her radio. He flicked a glance up, a brief look around to count heads, and caught Riesy’s eye, offering a reflexive smile.