Latest Posts by moonlightguidesky - Page 2
Dear mutuals and followers, sorry for the politics in your dashboard but in some homes today we cannot afford to "ignore the problems".
The country where I come from, Venezuela, has had an election for president that has resulted in fraud. Mr. Nicolás Maduro has proclaimed himself President although the votes have said the opposite. This regime has devastated the lives of its citizens, resorting to violence against those who opposed it. It has brought ruin to a nation once celebrated as a pioneer of Latin American independence, yet many choose to overlook its plight. Venezuela, a country that once extended support to immigrants and provided aid to others, is now dismissed as insignificant by many.
If you are an advocate who values the dignity and needs of individuals, we urge you to raise your voice alongside us. Don't ignore us because we are Latinos, this is also a war. It is a conflict against an individual who has controlled his armed forces, law enforcement, narcotics syndicates, and citizens, rendering any attempts at reform futile despite our vocal protests. I have family members who are unable to depart through legal means, and if they choose to leave unlawfully, they face harsh judgment from people of the outside.
If you are interested, here are more information you may read:
Twitter Thread Summary // What is happening in Venezuela // Torture Center: The Helicoide
(ASK) How can I help Venezuelans?
DON'T GO ON HAMAS.//////COM
I recently saw tweets about this website called Hamas .com.
It is a site made by Israel to steal your information.
Its just another way that Israel will harm Palestinians by making a fake website to confuse advocates
PLEASE GO TO ARAB.ORG INSTEAD FOR DAILY CLICKS
hot artists don't gatekeep
I've been resource gathering for YEARS so now I am going to share my dragons hoard
Floorplanner. Design and furnish a house for you to use for having a consistent background in your comic or anything! Free, you need an account, easy to use, and you can save multiple houses.
Comparing Heights. Input the heights of characters to see what the different is between them. Great for keeping consistency. Free.
Magma. Draw online with friends in real time. Great for practice or hanging out. Free, paid plan available, account preferred.
Smithsonian Open Access. Loads of free images. Free.
SketchDaily. Lots of pose references, massive library, is set on a timer so you can practice quick figure drawing. Free.
SculptGL. A sculpting tool which I am yet to master, but you should be able to make whatever 3d object you like with it. free.
Pexels. Free stock images. And the search engine is actually pretty good at pulling up what you want.
Figurosity. Great pose references, diverse body types, lots of "how to draw" videos directly on the site, the models are 3d and you can rotate the angle, but you can't make custom poses or edit body proportions. Free, account option, paid plans available.
Line of Action. More drawing references, this one also has a focus on expressions, hands/feet, animals, landscapes. Free.
Animal Photo. You pose a 3d skull model and select an animal species, and they give you a bunch of photo references for that animal at that angle. Super handy. Free.
Height Weight Chart. You ever see an OC listed as having a certain weight but then they look Wildly different than the number suggests? Well here's a site to avoid that! It shows real people at different weights and heights to give you a better idea of what these abstract numbers all look like. Free to use.
Chapter 6.5: A friend and Work
After checking to see there was no one around to give the others a hard time he gives them a hand signal to the guys below and on roofs that he's in and to start up the plan. They give their own signals to show that they are ready.
He gets to around more closely as bags and crates filled the room up, all either with labels or random stuff on top of them. The smell of gunpowder and rotting wood filling his nose, walking around the room for a second before grabbing the door handle and checking his surrounding area, it was empty of people.
There are two floors to this place, he needed to hit one room on the top floor and another on the first floor. Both with specific thing the client wanted, a person and a file of a buyer.
One would think that would be impossible, taking a whole person without being detected by a guarded building.
However, there was one thing these three always made sure for whatever job they take, give it everything they had into it and make sure not to fuck up anything to a point of no return.
He sees that the distraction is in motion as he moves, the men below being called for a "disturbance" outside. He moves past room after room before making it to the first room he needed to be in, the door locked he grabs a hair clip he keeps as the knob shakes with each twist and turn the clip makes.
A sound of a click tells him its open as he turns the knob and sneaks inside the room. The area he enters is piled with paper upon paper, files with names and dates of each transaction happening between this group and a whole trading railroad of others.
He gets to work as he surfs through the names and dates, digging through each paper for a certain initial given to him during the briefing before this. Moving past a desk and onto a crate with word of "أسلحة".
After finding nothing he stares at the other containers with scraps of useless or important papers they might not even need. He hears the commotion outside is starting to get ramped up as the sound of gunfire and shouts make their way into his ears.
He remembers during the meeting leading up to this heist that the client had said something about a box with a latch or something metal keeping where that file they wanted was in.
He made his way through the crates as he scans each of them for that specific important detail.
"I'll do it." Jake says as Marc eyes rolled back and is in control, it only take him a second but eventually he finds the box with the latch on it. It seemed to have a unique detail on it as there was a red line on the side of it, it just seemed to be more important than the rest.
The latched creaked open as he opens to see whether the contents they need are intact there, there are casing bundles of hay inside, he digs through it. A hard surface meets his glove as he pulls out a plastic suitcase like box that would be used to transport weapons, in this case, however, held files.
Hundreds of them even.
'Why would they hide files here?' The thought followed with creased eyebrows and a confused expression.
He pulls them out and scans them for that initial, something however catches his eye. The initials of something with "AH" with a small marking of the same tattoo that the Timsaeh people had. His left eyebrow lifted at this, it was too much of a coincidence for this to be here.
And in this case nonetheless. Who cared if curiosity killed the cat, a cat had nine lives. He opens the vanilla folder as he checks the contents on why the Timsaeh were even anywhere near this group of people.
From what he could see, there were a small transaction here and there. Weaponry, medical kits, and other materials that were essential for what seemed like survival. It seemed like normal illegal trading from one group to another.
Still, Jake felt something was off. He didn't trust the Timsaeh, never has and never will. He however was on a time crunch and the guys below could only keep the guards, (if you could call them that) occupied for so long. He needed to finish this job, so he instead steals the paper.
He folds the paper and stuffs it into their pocket before moving onto the next files.
He reachs again pulling out another file from inside the crate. They said the file should be here, there was only 5 more files to go through before the sound of footsteps made him stop.
Not wnating to risk it, he puts the files on the desk before making his way behind the door. His hand going towards his pistol ready to pull out in case he is caught.
The steps quicken as he hears the noise behind the wall. The voices sounding confused and frustrated, "هذه الوظيفة هي ألم في المؤخرة." The muffled voice say as a hummed sound of agreement, echos of footsteps keep him there until he knows they are far enough not to hear him. He waits a couple more seconds before leaving the hiding place and going back to the crate.
It was the second to last file where he finally found the file they wanted, the initial of "AM" Show up as he places the file in his jacket, a pocket big enough to hold the file. Putting the other paperwork back and closing up the crate to how it was, he walked towards the door and checked for any guards around, finding them to be in their own world.
He takes the opportunity and leaves to towards another room to hide before closing the door behind him. He makes it towards a window before signaling he grabs the file. One gives him a thumbs up before Jake goes and gets ready to retrieve the next thing on his list of demands.
"Hey, wanna play?" A whispered voice comes out as Katalina puts the comic down after reading it for the 5th time now.
'Okay, maybe she enjoyed the comic than she thought she would.'
It was one of Gena kids.
'Ray was his name, right?'
"Aren't you working?" She asked the boy as he opens the door a little bit more. "No, every week we get a day off." The information getting her attention, maybe they made a good amount to not have to work every day, that's good.
She had heard stories of the before times, people working everyday to meet the bills for their everyday expenses, it never made sense to her.
"So, you wanna play or no?"
She looks down at the comics and then back at the boy. She could read the same story again — but than she would get bored of it and she rather not.
Plus, she was getting bored of being stuck in the room. It's not that she wasn't greatful, but its like being a plant and plants needs sunlight. She had finished her chores for Gena that she had been assigned to her in the morning anyways.
Finally deciding she nods showing a grin on her face as she gets off the bed and puts her shoes on. Fixing the ties into bunny ears and then double knotting it to be sure.
She reaches for her backpack as she started to put her hand through one of the straps before his voice intrupted.
"Don't need it, we aren't going far." He reassures her. A little stunned at first but slowly nods as she puts the backpack back, it sat against the wall before he waits for her in the hallway.
The hallway was open and bright, walking down the hallway she smells the sweet smell of tea, it makes her smile slightly as she sees Gena siting down with her other son Ricky.
"Where you two going?" Gena ask as the two kids looked at her. Katalina looks over at Ray who looks at her than back at hisat his mom.
"Just downstairs, we'll stay in the box area. Promise mom."
The women looks at the two, before sighing and giving in.
"Be careful. If you hear any gunfire, you run right back here. Understood?" She reminds her son, and now this girl temporarily put into her care by someone who trusts her to keep this kid safe until he comes back.
The two kids nods as the boy runs towards the door, the girl surprised suddenly runs after the boy and both leave together from the apartment. He runs down the steps as others are walking or talking with each other as they see the kids fly pass then.
"Last one down is a rotten egg!" Ray yells and Katalina takes the challenge as she mentally tells her legs to run faster, soon the two are head to head as they make it down the stairs way.
It's was a close one, but Ray ended up winning as their lungs fought a breath of air to cool them down. Chest hurting but high on adrenaline to really feel it in their lungs as they rested up from what seemed like a marathon to them.
"You went first, that's why you won."
"No, your just slow."
The two kids looked at each before laughing, they sit down at the steps of the entrance to the apartment complex as people came and went. The sun beat down on them, sweaty kids on whatever day it was now.
"Do you wanna play uno again?" Ray asked as Katalina smiled.
"Do you even have to ask." As a shit eating grin appeared on the girls face.
He pulls the card box out and lays it down giving her seven cards and pull seven cards for himself as the two went ahead and played the game.
They played for two hours.
"I'm just gonna beat you again dude, just call it quits, and maybe I'll give you mercy." Katalina mocks as she places down another blue card down.
"No way! I'm gonna beat you, just watch." Ray retorts with as a plastered smirk was on his face as he places down a red card, Katalina was out of red cards.
"Oh come on!" She whines in defeat as she grabs cards from the pile to the left of her.
"I told you I would get you back." He snickered as he watches the girl go from only three cards to eight.
The sound of shot being fired catches their attention. Their smiles dwindle as they stop moving, waiting to make sure they heard correctly. Again, the sound of bullets flying triggers the flight or fight reflex.
They grab whatever they can of the game as they run back inside the building, it seemed like the whole place had somehow gone to war as see people below are running like ants. They keep running as fast as they can back to the apartment.
There already was Gena with the door open.
"Inside, now!" She yells as the two kids rush inside as she slams the door shut behind her. The two drop the cards on the ground as they see both Gena and Ricky moving thing to open places.
Katalina rushes with Gena to cover the door with a cabinet while the boys plug up the window with whatever they could find large enough to, the sound turns from bullets to explosion too quickly as the ground below starts to rumble with each one that went off.
The ground shook as Gena pushes all the kids into another room, it was the one where she had been placed temporarily until the guys came back. Gena pushed the children to a corner as she pulled the wooden panel from below off showing some weapons and money that laid inside the little compartment.
Katalina whinces before covering her ears to not hear the sound of screams and combustion that was happening outside. Gena grabbed her shoulders and pushed her to sit down on ground next to her children who seemed to be holding each for the time being.
The ceiling shook as three kids huddled together for some type of comfort while Gena loads the shotgun with bullets. She points at the door ready to kill whoever comes through the door, her hands seem to be shaking slightly but her eyes were steady and observent.
The fighting continued for what seemed like an eternity before it started to simmer outside, the tense air filled up as the smell of smoke and metal circulated the oxygen they inhaled.
Soon the sound of things moving made them tense as all four people inside the small room seem to have all sense at a all high ready for whatever came. The adrenaline hitting hard for their instinct to kick in whenever.
It was silent before a knock was heard.
"It's me, I promise." A muffled sound comes out as the kids looked at each other.
"Marc?" Gena asked.
"Yeah, it me. Open the door Gena."
He sounded drained, Gena falters before slowly taking off the chair and unlocking the door, the shotgun still point as the door creaked open.
He comes in, grime of ash and blood. Darken eyebags than before with his clothing seemingly ruined and holes littered it. His hands were up in the air to show he wasn't an enemy to them.
The gun is lowered to the ground as the women walked over to him, he lowers his hands as she lead him to one of the twin bed in the room. He groans as he sits down, his black curls were messed up and his body seemed beyond used.
"Ray, Ricky, please go and get me the med-kit. Kat, please go get a rag and a bowl of some warm water." She instructs the kids as they all slowly got up from the floor and off to do what they were asked of.
Living in the place was easy as they didn't have complicated layout, she finds the cabinet where the cups, bowls, and plates were stored. Grabbing a medium size bowl she turns the tap and feels the water for a couple minutes before deeming it warm enough to not burn.
Filling it half way she puts it down before grabbing a rag from another cabinet, pulling a red one as she goes back grabbing the bowl and bringing it back to the room where the other two had already brought the med-kit.
"Here." She tells the lady as she nods and grabs the bowl from her before taking the rag gently from her hand. Marc looks at her, the girl looked fine.
Steven had said to make sure the kid was okay when they came back after the whole battle outside, there had been many casualties but they had managed to get rid of the ones who had started it. She slowly lifts her hand to give a small wave.
Marc just stares at her. He seemed out of it for the most part, his eyes seeming almost empty for the most part. His expression of being stoic being apparent. Her eyebrows are pinched, she looked concern for him, she didn't have to be, it's not her problem.
After a while of staring at each other for a couple seconds before he lowered his head to the ground,he was just tired. They hadn't slept since the job, and it was catching up to them.
"Come on, let my mom help him." Ricky said as he gently grabbed her shoulders and pushed her to move as the three children left the room. Their footsteps with no rhythm as they walked down the corridor again for what seemed like the third time today.
A couple minutes later Gena come out, the sound of her coming gets the children attention as she looks at Katalina.
"He wants to talk with you." Her voice steady as the girl nods and gets up from the chair she had sat on. She felt her hands were sweaty, why was she nervous?
The way to the room seem to stretch forever, she felt like she hadn't even moved at all. Before she knew it she was right there, wiping her hands on the shirt she had on today and grabbing the knob as she turns it.
She sees him, he still sitting on the bed, his face and arms dressed in bandages. He looks up as the switch happened, his once straighten back slouched slightly as he looked at her.
"Steven?"
"Yeah. It's me kiddo, sorry we took so long."
She feels slight relief that it was Steven who had fronted this time, she doesn't know why.
"It's fine. You guys, okay?" She ask as she glances the wounds on his face, they look cleaned but definitely would need to time to heal.
He nods moves a little only to winced at the wounds but tries to hide it for the time being.
"Feel like I got hit by a truck, but I'll live." He says with the best reassuring smile he could muster, his body felt like it was on fire and constant pulsing from the bruises and cuts they had gotten from the past couple of days was killing him.
"So, what now?" That was the big question, she wasn't sure whether they were even in a good condition to even move at all, but it's was up to them nonetheless.
"Well, we managed to get a ride. A little close than what we would have had to walk to get there. It would still take us a week to make it to where our other friend will be." He explains as she listens to him, at least they had a ride. But he was injured, how the hell they would even make it that far was beyond him.
"Do you know when we have to get on this ride?" And he lays down on the bed. "It will be here in two days, give or take." He answers, that's not nearly enough time for them to heal up.
Whether he can takes it or not is the problem, it's the fact that he won't be able to fight as good as he could with all the injuries they have on themselves.
"I don’t know if that's a good idea, not to be rude man but you look like you got the ever lasting shit beaten out of you." She grimace, he definitely is not ready to go.
His jaw tightens as his head turns to look at her. "That's not your problem kid, this might be our only chance to even get anything like this in a while."
Her lips pursed at this.
"Alright." She responds with as she looks at the man, he looked like shit. But he didn't seem to bothered or either was trying his best to make it seem like it.
For the most part she couldn't tell if he was in pain or not, but he won't tell her that.
"We will leave in two days. Have everything you need packed by then." He instructs as he looks at the ceiling and puts his arm in his eyes.
Yay!!! Finally we are getting somewhere with them. I wanted to make this chapter a little longer than before and hopefully I succeeded with that.
Sorry for taking so long. A medical issue was happening, and I was needed, so this had to be postponed while I assisted with what was needed from me. Everything is no worries there👍
Another note to add on is that I don't speak nor write in Arabic, so if there is an error in how it is written—please let me know. It would really help with anything I could improve on in the future of this story!
Thank you for your patience and hope you have a good day, afternoon, and night.
Sky 💜
WARNING: METION OF GUNFIRE, BOMBING, KILLING A MINOR
You have been warned
Chapter 6: A friend and Work
She wakes up to the sound of clanking, groaning before going to rub her eyes. Yawning as she pushed herself to sit up from her sleeping bag, looking around she saw him.
"Estas despierta, good." Jake comments as he closes the lid to the pot.
The warmth of the fire lit make it better as a small whisp of wind came, she doesn't shiver. He gets up before walking to his pack as she pulls the lid of the pot, the sight of a liquid inside of it.
"It's tea." He answers before she can even ask what it was.
Looking up at him before he sights go back to what she know knows is tea, it had a sweet aroma with hints of bitterness as it bubbled.
"You like tea?" She ask as he sighs before giving a half nod as he went back to whatever he was digging from their pack.
She nods to no one as she layed back on her sleeping bag, the ground tough and yet soft all at the same time. It was mostly silent besides the sounds of the fire crackling near her before deciding she was bored. Grabbing her bag as she tries and find the book she still had from the day she left her dorm room in the orphanage.
Back when she was at the QZ all they ever told her was that nothing in the library or whatever that place was would keep her alive. She knew that, but it wasn't for her benefit, it was to keep her sain.
The constant drills of military drilled into her skull the minute she was in that damn orphanage, the beating she took for who knew what the girls would make up about why they did what they did. She just took it before going back to the nurse who just knew from footsteps who was coming to see her.
All she would want to do at the end of the day was listen to any type of background music and pick her book to leave the world for a second. Even just a second to keep her going, the stories filling her brain with ever little knowledge it had to offer her.
She was alone for the most part anyways since her roommate would always leave the minute she got there. She never had friends, not really, just herself, and most times she was okay with it.
But she would yearn for what she had before, mourn the lost of connection with people who just understood, her parents understood.
A cloth was thrown at her face before she could even try to stop it, she's thrown a back by the action as the cloth falls on her lap.
"Ow."
"Tie that in your hair." He instruct as he put on a black newsboy cap, some curls were stick out before he tucked them inside, the little bits of curls hanging from back instead.
She looks at the cloth, it looks like a bandanna, she starts to grab her hair and bundles them up into a pony tail, grabbing as much hair as she could.
She wraps it once before going again, the pony tail tightens as she fixes it the best she can, the wind blowing in the back of neck now that there was more space for it to flow through.
"Ten." He throws another thing at her as this time she is paying attention and grabbing it, it's a hat, not like his. It's a baseball hat with on little symbol on it, a black beetle on it.
Pushing some of her hair back before putting on the cap, it fits snugly, she pulls some of her curls up front. They hang in front of her before she looks back at him.
He had took the little pot off and had two tin cans up, he poured the tea into the cans, the steam coming out the make shift cups before he dumps the rest to the fire as it dies out from the liquid.
He pushs the cup in front of her for her to take.
"Drink it before we leave." She nods before blowing into the tea. He follows before going for it and drinking the brown liquid. He hold it upside down before putting it back into his pack.
She slowly finishes hers before stuffing it into her backpack, they pack up whatever was left and continued walking, the sky start to slowly erupt with colors of orange and yellow.
They make it a two miles from the borders of Libya before he stops. She stops behind him as he turns to her with a serious expression which made her confused.
"Tenemos que hablar de reglas antes de llegar a Libya." He states.
"Rules?"
"Yes."
Then he starts and lays out the rules for this whole thing. He talked about it with Marc and Steven, they both knew what can happen in other places and how bad something can get. They need to make sure she wasn't a victim to whatever was pulled until they get to one of Jake contacts.
"One, if anybody offers you something, you don't take it."
"Okay, so stranger danger type of stuff then." She remarks before he nods. "I know that stuff already, anything else?" She inquires.
"Don't tell anybody about your-" He stops before look at her shoulder where her bite mark is engraved into her skin. "Condition, you show it or tell anybody they will kill you. No hesitation."
She nods as she knows the risk that she was in, any slight could end with her brains being blown out because of instinct to the sight.
"Finalmente, you do what we say when we say it. Me entiendes." He said not as a question but a statement. She gives a nod.
It's not enough, she needs to understand.
"Repeat it."
"Whatever you guys say goes." He sighs but take the responds as he nods before they continue in the territory from the borders of Egypt passing into Libya.
Sellers and Auctions were happening everywhere, this was a place where a majority of trading and Smugglers would gather to sell and take what they could from this market.
She gazed at everything she saw, photos, books, jewelry, food and drinks of all kind that could be thought of was there. Conversation of the ton were being held as he pushed forward to keep going through the crowds that bundle and wouldn't let up.
The smells of spices and burning rubber was strong in the air, yet still felt dry as they walked through this makeshift market Jake had taken them to.
He guides her through the place as people were grouped trying to make deals with other sellers. She looked at almost everything that was being shown, the amount of objects she wished she could touch out of reach since he kept her going in certain direction.
Many turns from left and rights lead them to one stall, the articles of objects that the stall contained were all types that dangled infront of it like beads and clothing as the seller look at Jake with his best charming grin he can make.
A way to lower any type of wall the man might have.
"!قميص للفتاة يا سيدي"
The man spoke as he pushs forward a shirt, it was in pretty good condition, the orange shirt littered with butterflies and bees. She looks at it with curiosity as she hadn't seen that design before, she was use to graphic tees or plain shirts and not patterned ones.
Jake looks at the shirt with the upmost disinterest.
"قميص جميل لفتاة جميلة"
The man compliments but Jake being Jake doesn't care before giving his answer of "She's good." Saying this all makes the man falter before he sees him pulling out a coin, the man looks at the coin, his face turning into a more composed and calm expression as to not look suspicious. He scans them before giving his nod of approval as he tilts his head slightly.
Jake nods in return as he pushes back the bright yellow cloth from the stall to show an allyway, "Stay close." He instruct as they move through other people who found themselves in this system of pathways.
She noticed all the different types of people that walked through, all with coverings she probably would need at some point if she doesn't want skin cancer anytime soon.
God, she would rather get a heat stroke than, well, anything that's worse than that.
A camel comes into sight and immediately she awes at animal.
"Camel." she mutters as she looked at the two humped mammal, she loved camels, she loved animals in general but she really liked camel, they were just so cool.
Thought they were beyond useful and were pretty self sustaining on their own. There was barely any animals in the QZ, but when she did see one she wanted nothing more than to learn about the animal.
How did they live? What do they eat? How long do they last for? Can you train them?
All the questions consumed her before she remembers that she is literally in an unknown and place and she has a higher chance of getting lost or kidnapped again here if she doesn't stick with the guy. So she makes it her mission to keep up with him, like she was suppose to.
Her face meet a harden muscle surface as she is shoved back, she falls back and lands on her ass. Looking up she see who exactly she "collided" with.
" !شاهد هذه"
A grating voice grabs her attention before she pushes herself up as she looks at who it was that she had smashed into and immediately felt a chill go down her spine.
The guy was freakishly tall, the color of his hair pepper and salt as it looked greasy to the touch, she notices small amount of blood on his face, he looked pissed.
Of course she she manages to upset a God damn giant while she's at it.
"Sorry." The mutter apology is all she can out as the guy snarls at her as she notices his first starting to form into a fist, his knuckles turning white and nails digging into his palm.
"I just apologized!" The girl defends herself as the man could give two fuck whether she did or not. He was provoked by a damn 14 year who just happen to be going in the same direction as him.
This causes her to back up even more as she looks at the ground to make herself smaller, maybe then he'll leave her alone if he doesn't see her as a threat to whatever stride he had going on in that thick skull of him.
The sound a familiar of heavy footsteps gets both attention as Jake stops a little way close to the man. He looked irritated, his jaw clenched and his eyes bore into the man.
The words that came out his mouth were firm as he stood his ground ".قالت إنها آسف." The two men look at each other and neither would move. Jake gestures the girl to move and with the message received she goes behind him as Jake made sure there was a space between her and the man twice her size.
The man looks ready to test his luck and try to get a hit at Jake and then the girl.
Jake stares the man down, his eyes lifeless and with obvious intent to not back down what the man wanted. Before he could he sees a cresnt symbol on Jake, his ring. He hears a scoff as the man's fiat slowly decompressed from their enlarged state, "راقبها." The man hissed at Jake before walking away while mumbling under his breath.
They watch as the man walks away before Jake looks back at the girl. "Watch where your going." He reprimand as she wants to retaliate, it wasn't her fault that guy didn't see her.
If anything, it was that asshole who should have apologized, he pushed her.
"He didn't see me, I wasn't even in his way." She defends herself as the Jake just scoffs at her words. He shakes his head, he doesn't have time for this.
"These people don't care whether your young or old, girl or boy, they will kill you." He chides her as she looked deep into his eyes, he tells the harsh real truth. Some people wouldn't care if she was a kid or not, they would do what they believe she deserves.
"Fine, asshole." She grumbles as she stormed forward from him in annoyance, he exhales a breath before before grumbling under his breath "Escuincla."
He walks and reaches her before passing as she reluctantly follows behind, they finally reached a space between five different allyways connected into one space. It's crowded with meetings and negotiations away from the public areas of the others who just past by.
Some stop and look at them before hushed whispers that echoed out in the air, she feels chicken skin beginning to surface. Yet, she doesn't show it.
'Strong.'
The word pops in her head before her face changes to a stoic expression, they keep looking before going back to their own conversations again.
He waits for her to move but she doesn't and stay still.
He firmly grabs her shoulders causing her to flinch for a second but they relaxed as he turned her to the left into a red overgrown building. They walked up the stairs as she sees the cracks and bullet holes slowly start to fade with each step up.
People were in the hallways, kids running before going around them as Jake put her in front, leading her who knew where.
"Where are we going?" She questions before an abrupt stop came, she turns and see it. It looked like a restaurant or something similar to it, it was small but seemed to be functioning well.
"Come on." Jake says already inside, there are men and women either sitting or at the counter making food and taking orders, it seem peaceful. "Gena!" He shouts out before a woman turns around from behind the counter and her eyes widen.
"Jake?" She mumbles before moving pass the other employees with a small smile on her face. She looks surprised but more than anything relief of seeing him.
"It's been long, huh?" Jake says as he puts his hand out to shake and she shakes it, both showing respect for another. "It has." She answers as she looked at him.
He had this look in this eye. She knew what it meant even after years of seeing each other now.
"Let go talk somewhere a little more private." She suggest as Jake nods before looking at the girl, he needs to do something about her. "Hold on." He ask Gena as she nods.
"Comes algo aquí. Don't move from here, got it." Jake said as he handed her some ration cards and watched as Katalina could only eye the paper before walking up to the counter and ordering food for herself. Once she sat down in a corner of the place he went to where Gena was waiting.
"Ray, Ricky!" Gena calls over two young boys who stop cleaning off some tables that had yet be clean up, putting the rag down and walked over to her, "yeah?" They both said as they looked at their mother.
"Keep an eye on her, alright?" She ask then as she points to Katalina who is playing with her hair, she parts a strand of her hair into smaller strands with her fingers. They curl at her fingertips before she let's it falls and starts the process again.
They nod as they go back to their task at hand, Jake opens the door for Gena as they both walked into another room.
Katalina waits for what she ordered as she sees the guy and lady he shook hands with enter another room to talk to each other, not sure about what since the guy didn't tell her much.
The inside of this place was almost a harsh noise, but she didn't mind it all that much. She felt the vibration of the sounds bouncing off the walls and into seemingly nowhere, it took a second to get accustomed to but eventually the ringing stopped and all she heard was noise.
The chatter had fizzled to the sound of ambiance of plates clanking and words spoken from the people who wished to speak.
A plate is set down which catches her by surprise, the urge to grab her knife kicked in as she looks up at who had spooked her. Dark brown eyes meet her's as he put down utensils and a foam cup with the sound of the liquid sloshing inside taking her attention instead.
The words of "استمتع بطعامك" come out as she nods and he leaves to where ever else he is needed. Looking down at the food she hears her stomach growl, a slight warmth reaches her face as she heard the noise.
The dish filled her nose with all types of smells of spices, nothing overdone and just the right amount. Perfection one might even say. She could feel her mouth water from it, she hasn't had cooked food in who knew how long—it's been years is all she knows.
She doesn't hesitate as she digs into the food, she eat's it all as her belly fills while she begins to questions what exactly they plan on getting help from in a restaurant. She suppose some connections can come from a place where people group or meet up but it didn't seem like the place.
Maybe that's why she isn't convinced that the guy didn't have much connection as she thought or really had much of plan to even get on whatever boat Khonshu had told them to get to.
She keeps eating as two guys, both seeming almost the same age as her, maybe one a year or two older than her glance at her every once in a while as she ate She feels their stares, not of malice but it was just weird.
She stares at them back which leads to them finally letting up and go back to their work.
'Weirdos,' She thinks.
Jake and Gena arrive into another room in the building, it looked like the remaining of a office, a table and couch being the real thing that took up the room. Gena closes the door behind her before she looks at Jake and begins her investigation on why he's here and with a child no less. "So, what brings you back here Jake?"
He sits down as he takes off his cap, his curls falling down before looking back up at the women. "I need your help." He starts off with.
She hums at this before crossing her arms against her chest, "And that girl, she yours?" She questions him as he scoffed a chuckle.
"That brat. No." His tone laced with slight annoyance.
"Alright then, who is she, Jake?" She asks him, and her gaze, drilling into his.
"Some girl we need to take somewhere."
"Where?" Her eyebrow lifts at the very abstract information she's getting from him. He knew why she was questioning him, it was rare to even be seen near children, much less bring one with him.
She is important if he had brought her here, Jake knew that Gena knew this.
"That's why we came here, we your help. We need to find Crawley."He finally comes out and says, she stand still for a second, the air tense. "Are you sure? He hasn't been himself in a while since, you know."
She caution him, the man they both knew hasn't been the same since his son died being chased by some gang members before falling to his death in hopes of escaping them. Crawley left after that by himself and only kept contact by radio and other sources of people whispers who were the messengers for him.
Other than that, he was off the map. Completely wiped from the face of the earth.
"Yes. lo necesitamos." Jake insisted as Gena eyes flickered with his before sighing and putting her hands on her hips. Her gaze lowers to the ground as she thinks about this. After coming to a conclusion she sighs before nodding "Alright. Give me a second to find one of his communicator."
He nods of gratitude as she leaves the room living him behind.
He sense a werid sensation before looking at his hat and deciding that he wants to out it back on, he fixes his hair before putting back the cap he had back on his head as he waits for Gena to return.
"Jake." A voice comes out and he looks around, he eventually finds the mirror and finds Marc and Steven, the two looking at him one concerned and the other more impatient.
"Qué?"
"Where is the girl?" Steven eyebrows were creased as he looked at the alter, Jake thinks if he did that anymore that his face would get stuck like that.
Why does he keep worrying about the mocosa? It been 30 min at best since they left her alone.
"She's fine Steven, Gena niños are watching her for now." He assures him as Steven sighs not completely satisfied with the answer but knows its what he's gonna get from the alter.
"What did Gena say then, she know where Crawley is?" It was Marc time to talk to him now. His arms crossed against his chest as he looks at Jake for answers.
"Ella está recibiendo la información ahorita." He answer as Marc nods and looks at Steven who can on look at the door to the outside of the restaurant. He sighs before he decides to get up and look from the blinds to give Steven a peace of mind.
He pulls down the blind slightly to look outside, he doesn't need much time before he finds her, it seems like she finished her food. Gena two sons are sitting with her at the table.
They seem to be talking about something, he can't read the lips of the kids from there but he sees cards on the table as they all seemed to have some cards in their hands. Her having two and the boys with five and seven cards.
"Uno?" Marc questions as he looks over and see the colorful cards, he hasn't seen those playing cards in who knows how long.
Marc and Randall would play Uno once he got older when Marc and his dad would play it on the table after dinner. The dining table was cleared as the smell of the dinner would still linger in the air as he would get the cards from a red box where other games were placed.
The room would be dimmed in a yellowish glow from the lamps and ceiling fan that would be turn on as a slight cold air would swirl them, not cold enough to make him shiver but to keep him awake.
It would always be on a Friday when his dad had a chance, if not him then Wendy would, but only a few rounds before tending back to baby Roro. When him and dad would play however, Wendy would watch as Randall babble as he and his dad would compete to win the fastest.
Most of time he won, but he thinks his dad let him.
He feels his eyes and nose burn, he wants to be numb, he wish there was some type of whisky around. Maybe they could buy some before they leave from here, drink while the kid is asleep so that she wouldn't know, not like she didn't already.
He wasn't exactly hiding the bottles he had on the table when they had to take her to their apartment at the beginning of this. He hated whatever this was still.
'Wait, why did he care if the kid saw him drunk? It's not like he's trying to be a good role model for the kid, it would make Steven and sometimes Jake upset if he did though.'
Jake let's go of the blinds and goes back to sit down and wait for Gena, it doesn't take long as she walks in with a piece of paper in hand. She puts it down for him to see, it's from latitude to longitude, opening a desk she pulls out a map and pencil.
"He should be about 23° 43' 8.112'' North and 44° 39' 47.3436'' East from here." She points out as she makes a line to a place called Sabhā close to the border of Algeria. He hums at this, that would make things easier, close they were to where they need to go and get maybe car or vehicle to make the trip faster would help from Crawley at the same time, two birds with one stone.
"Aww come on!" A groaned complain was heard as the two adults look at each other before going to the door and opening. The kid had a shit eating grin on her face as the two boys look completely defeated.
"What’s going on?" Gena asked the kids as her kids looked at their mom. "How does she keep beating us, she's never even played before?!" The two whined as Jake looks at the kid who just shrugs her shoulders.
There was a small notepad with the letters of the kids first initial and it seemed like Katalina had been winning since the second time they played together. He can hear a small chuckle as he looks around for a reflection with a Steven covering his mouth with his hand as his eyes were wrinkled at each end.
The kids got a knack for Uno it seemed. Jake felt a small twitch at the end of his lips before realizing it and suppressing it before anyone noticed.
"Alright you two, back to work before you get beat by her again." Gena says as the two sulked and got up from the chair before handing the girl two objects, it was a pin and hairclip.
The hairclip was of a dragonfly, it's wings made of silver with little spots of rust, but the hairclip never lost its shape even with the small bits of rist that covered its wings and body.
She grabs her bag as she puts the hairclip in her bag before grabbing the pin in the shape of a beetle and stuck it to her backpack. The sound of a click makes her let go and puts the bag back on the floor.
They make their way towards her as she hears their footsteps and looks up to see them.
"So. Did you get what you needed from here?" The girl asked as he nods.
"What now?"
"One last thing I need to ask her before we leave." He says before looking at her plate. She's eaten the entire soup without problem. She looks much more awake than she had in the past couple of days of walking they had to do.
She cringes at this before deciding to put her head down on the table. It was the waiting game again, she doesn't mind but she was on a roll with her the game andnwas winning before they came over and took her new competitors away. He rolls his eyes as he sees the girl putting her head down.
'Teenagers.'
Jake can feel the moment his eyes rolled to the back and he was once again in the mind space as Steven took over. He blinks a couple times before looking at the girl.
He looks at the table with the empty bowl and cup .
She's been fed, good.
"Don't worry, it'll only take a sec." He tries to reassure her.
"Steven?" She ask in surprise of the British man appearance.
"Yeah?"
"Don't take long. We might have to stay here for the night if we do, the day has been more than halfway done now." She informs him, her eyebrows knitted in concern.
From what she has seen, it might not be a good idea to wonder during the night.
He looks at the window to see that the sun was starting to go down, the hues of blue and orange are starting to warn them that probably need to hurry up soon with this.
He nods as he goes over to where he last saw Gena. She turns and looks at him. "Needed something else?"
"Yeah, Marc asked if there was a way to get a ride to get closer to Crowly location? It would take us a while to get to where he is and where we are." Steven points out.
"There might, but of course everything comes with a price. You guys up for it?" Gena ask the man as he looks at the pot to a Marc and Jake who nod and he sighs.
"What's the job?" He ask.
"Follow every rule that Gena ask of you, I'll be back in a day or two." Marc tells the girl as she looks at him in disbelief.
"Why do you even need to do this job?" She questions as he packs his bag with what he thinks this job might need. He can't bring the kid cause it'll be too dangerous for her to even be near the damn place. He also trust that Gena will protect her while he leaves for this job.
"We might be able to get a ride to our next location." He explains.
"Why can't I come?"
"It's too dangerous and I don't trust you to not get killed."
"I can help though!" She protest.
"This isn't up for discussion kid." His statement absolute. He wasn't taking her anywhere that had a sure chance she would get killed in the process.
It would reckless and impulsive, they knew better than that.
Not to mention he didn't exactly trust who it was he had to do this job for, but it would help cut the time from a month and a half trip into just about a month. It had already been a month with the kid in their protection.
He could only hope these guys don't skrew them with this. He doesn't want to get his hand any more dirty than they were about to be.
She's upset but better that than dead.
"Marc, can you give her the thing we found." Steven whispered as he looks at the mirror in the room that Gena had given them for three nights now. They had to pay her back for this at some point, he make a mental note of this.
With a heavy sigh he digs through the backpack, the feeling of slightly ripped flimsy paper is finally felt as he pulls it out of the hold the bag had on it. They had found it while scavenging for some supplies, Steven said to take for the kid.
Marc and Jake said it was a waste of perfectly good space dor other important things but Steven wouldn't take no for an answer on it.
"Here. To keep you entertained." He says as he toss three comic books in her direction, the sound of the comics grabbing her attention as she looked at them. The front page filled with faded color but the image perfect to still make out it shape. Bottom part was ripped but didn't take away from its artistic style only adding more to it.
She doesn't utter of word, not even a noise.
'They got this, for her?'
Marc waits for anything from the kid but nothing really happens, only her shoulders stopped looking tense from her previous upset state. More than anything she looks surprised, or maybe taken aback of gift given to her.
He finally loses patience to wait for a responds as he sees the sun the stars starting to shine soon, a faded light of the moon glimmered afar to reminding him he needs to hurry up or he will be late to the site he needs to be at right now.
"We'll be back. Don't get into any trouble." He says as grabs his stuffed pack before grabbing the pistol on top of the drawer checking one last time that it was filled and ready in case of anything were to go wrong. The pistol slids in the holster on the side of his tigh. He doesn't look back at the girl as he walks towards the door.
"Okay." A sullen voice is heard, without hesitation he colses the behind him as he walked towards the location of the meeting with the client and a group of others hired to do this job.
The sound of the door closing causes her to look up and find that he had left, the sound of the room silent as the softer noise of people outside took over. She was left behind for safety reasons, she knew she would just be a burden. But she at least wanted to show she could learn how to not be one, but with the tone he used — he would never consider it.
Looking at the comics Marc had left for her, she stares at it for a second before she reaches for the comics. She feels how fragile they seem as she carefully feels the now slightly rough cover. Wrinkles and small tear on the corners from years of sitting on the shelf and possible being consider to take only to be left behind again.
Still, it looked in good condition to read.
"Ultimate Comics Spider-man." She reads out at she feels the comic, the front cover showing someone in a costume with a web design and a red outline on a spider on their chest as they looked to be swinging by white rope coming out their wrist.
'That looks tight, no? Would it be hard to breathe in?'
She questions as she opens the first page and starts to read what was left behind for her.
The night was cold as he went through alley after alley, vendors voices of the night in the background as he eventually made it to the deepest part of the town. The feeling of a cold wind coming as he finally reaches the start point of the job.
"إنه هنا "
A voice calling him out as he is the last one to arrive, he sees a group of men all with their own weapons and dress up for this Mission. He walks over with his own get up, leather gloves the way Lockly liked, a mask with wrapping on it making it more breathable and comfortable than the plastic ones the other men were wearing.
His outfit consisting of a white hoodie, grey shirt, and blue jeans. Simple and flexible, their curls were combed back requested by Jake and Marc since it always seemed to cover thier eyesight sometimes. The pack they carried on their shoulder full of weapons or any equipment they might need.
At the corner of his eye he sees one of the members reaching in a box, grabbing what seemed like a vest of some sort. It's thrown at his direction, with fast reflex he catches it mid air before clicking the vest into place. One of the men scowled at him before the one next to him nudged him harshly earning him a glare.
"حسنًا ، نحن جميعًا هنا."
A man with a mask covering his lower half of his face turns to face all the men gathered for this job and speaks to them. "أنت تعرف موقفك ، اذهب" they all nod as the men are spread out to get the supplies from another group that had been ripping people off with their "deals".
He climbs up one of the ladders that had been placed there for him as he jumps from roof to roof to where the location had been located a couple days ago. Once he arrives and in position, he sees two other men go onto the side of other roofs around the building to get a clear shot of anybody who could interfere with their plan.
Any guards or allies being in the line of shot by the two who had bows and a sniper ready at the mark.
Finally he gets the signal to keep going inside, a small sound of whisp let's him know that anyone in a close radius to spot him were gone, he jumps on the roof and looks down. The building was filled with people, a fire pit being the only thing light up the place.
He looks around for the opening and finds a window, it's open so he with light steps he walks over and steady himself. Sitting down on the ledge before grabbing the edges and letting himself drop slightly towards the window edge. With a small grunt he gets inside and waits a second to make secure the room he was in.
Vetted family fundraiser masterpost 2
Version date: June 10th 2024.
Check in regularly on the original post when you see it being reblogged. In all likelihood once its reached you it's already outdated. This post is part of this masterpost series compiling fundraisers for Ghazzah and Sudan. I focus on Ghazzah as I am Palestinian and am more equipped to do verifications as I'm more familiar with my own country and its politics and dialect, but if I know a fundraiser for a Sudanese family is legit I will include it here. Here's a link to the first post of this kind.
Wisam Daoud (106). 7 family members. 15.1k out of 75k USD.
Nadaa's family (107). 3 family members. 0 out if 15k USD. NO FUNDS AT ALL.
Sanaa & Rana Abu Ghaben (108). 25 family members. (1 INJURED, 1 SICK) 145 out of 100k CAD.
Karam Al-Madhoun (109). 5 family members. 145 out of 20k €.
Moad Ahmed (110). 9 family members (1 INJURED, NEEDS TREATMENT). 1.2k out of 20k €.
Firas Salem (111). 4 family members (1 SICK INFANT, NEEDS TREATMENT). 25 out of 20k €.
Tahani Shorbajee (112). 11 family members. (2+ CHILDREN ILL). 510 out of 50k USD.
Mohammed Bardaweel (113). 4 family members (1 CHILD INJURED, NEEDS TREATMENT). 50 out of 37k €.
Aya Tareq (114). 5 family members. 455 out of 10k €. EXTREMELY LOW ON FUNDS.
Amani Alzatma (115). 6 family members. 18.7k out of 30k €.
Ahmad Shaban (116). 8 family members. 0 out of 510k BP (40k needed for evacuation). NO FUNDS AT ALL.
Moin Hammad (alternatively, pypl) (117). 6+ family members (1 YOUNG INFANT). 4.8k out of 20k. LOW ON FUNDS.
Salah Al Sadi (118). 26+ family members. 61k out of 100k USD. (2 SICK ELDERLY)
Hassan Shbeir (119). 4 family members. 200 out of 50k USD. EXTREMELY LOW ON FUNDS.
Hassan Al-Ashi (120). 7.6k out of 20k USD.
Samah Fares (121). 5 family members (1 CRITICALLY INJURED, NEEDS TREATMENT IMMEDIATELY). 19.6k out of 30k CAD.
Mohammad's family (122). 5+ family members (part of expenses will be used to fund a tuition). 3.2k out of 14k USD.
Mahmoud Nedal (123). 6 family members. 2.1k out of 15k USD. LOW ON FUNDS.
Mahmoud Balousha (124). 25 family members. 1.7k out of 50k €. EXTREMELY LOW ON FUNDS.
Ahmed Al Ostaz (125). 28 family members (3 NEWBORN INFANTS + 2 RECOVERING MOTHERS). 70 out of 70k €.
Amjad Sido (126). 5+ family members. 80 out of 30k €. EXTREMELY LOW ON FUNDS.
Omar's family (127). 1+ individuals. 45 out of 50k €. EXTREMELY LOW ON FUNDS.
Renad Majed Salim (128). 7 family members (3 SICK). 595 out of 25k BP. EXTREMELY LOW ON FUNDS.
Ahmed Al-Zaeem (129). 6+ family members (1 SEVERELY INJURED). 272 out of 50k CAD. EXTREMELY LOW ON FUNDS.
Hamza Hilles (130). 6 family members. 161 out of 30k €. EXTREMELY LOW ON FUNDS.
Taher Abu Aqlain (131). 8 family members. 4.8k out of 36k €. LOW ON FUNDS.
Salah Bilaal (132). 28 family members (3 INFANTS IN CRITICAL CONDITION). 4.8k out of 70k €.
Mohammed Mansour (133). 17 family members. 4.1k out of 150k USD. EXTREMELY LOW ON FUNDS.
Abdallah Ameen (134). 3+ family members (1 NEWBORN). 1k out of 5k €. LOW ON FUNDS.
Mohammed Thalatheeni (135). 4 family members (1 SERIOUS HEAD INJURY, NEEDS IMMEDIATE EVACUATION). 3.7k out of 20k €.
Marah Salim (136). 5 family members (ALL CHRONICALLY ILL WITH FLAREUPS). 735 out of 55k €. EXTREMELY LOW ON FUNDS.
Fatin Abu Hamda (137). 5 family members (1 DISABLED, AMPUTEE). 95 out of 18k USD. EXTREMELY LOW ON FUNDS.
Husam Thaher (138). 5+ family members. 15 out of 27.5k USD. EXTREMELY LOW ON FUNDS.
Anonymous individual (139). 4+ family members (2 CHRONICALLY ILL CHILDREN). 25 out of 50k USD.
Sharif family (140). 23 family members. 4k out of 150k USD. EXTREMELY LOW ON FUNDS.
Shymaa's family (141). 5 family members (1 INFANT WITH BIRTH DEFECT, NEEDS TREATMENT). 1.6k out of 50k USD. EXTREMELY LOW ON FUNDS.
Mahmoud Mousa (142). 6 family members. 121 out of 10k €. EXTRMELY LOW ON FUNDS.
Nedal's family (143). 9 family members. 10 out of 33k €. EXTREMELY LOW ON FUNDS.
Fadi Ayyad (144). 8 family members. 360 out of 35k USD. EXTREMELY LOW ON FUNDS.
Mohamed Hamad (145). 9 family members (1 CHRONICALLY ILL, NEEDS IMMEDIATE TREATMENT AND EVACUATION, 1 INJURED CHILD NEEDS TREATMENT). 1.9k out of 50k BP. EXTREMELY LOW ON FUNDS.
Tahseen Tawfiq (146). 6 family members. 3k out of 60k BP. EXTREMELY LOW ON FUNDS.
Ahmed Shaaban (147). 1 survivor (entire family has been martyred). 2.1k out of 20k €.
Basel Abu Ghaben (148). 5 family members. 0 out of 105k $. NO FUNDS AT ALL.
Mahmoud Abu Hamam (149). 1 individual. 2.7k out of 10k CAD. LOW ON FUNDS.
Iman Eyad (150). 7 family members. 386 out of 60k BP. EXTREMELY LOW ON FUNDS.
Mahmoud Khalaf (151). 8 family members. 260 out of 30k €. EXTREMELY LOW ON FUNDS.
Bassam Shaqoura (152). 6 family members (5 ORPHANS, 1 WIDOWER). 80 out of 35k €. EXTREMELY LOW ON FUNDS.
Nasser Shoshaa (153). 6 family members. 0 out of 120k € (30k needed to evacuate). NO FUNDS AT ALL.
Rania 'Ibra' (154). 7 family members (1 CRITICAL CHRONIC ILLNESS). 0 out of 35K BP. NO FUNDS AT ALL.
Sujoud's children (155). 8 family members (3 ORPHANS SEPARATED FROM THEIR MOTHER). 0 out of 45k $. NO FUNDS AT ALL.
Asmaa Bahloul (CW: PHOTO OF THE BODY OF A SHAHEED (KILLED BY OCCUPATION) IN THE LINK) (156). 4 family members (3 ORPHANS, 1 WIDOW). 0 out of 20k €. NO FUNDS AT ALL.
Abeer Ibrahim (CW: PHOTO OF THE BODY OF A SHAHEED IN THE LINK) (157). 8 family members (7 ORPHANS, 1 OF THEM SEVERE CHRONIC ILLNESS). 350 out of 70k CAD.
Mohamed Rafiq Abdo (158). 7 family members. 4k out of 100k CAD (22.5k CAD needed for evacuation). LOW ON FUNDS.
Ahmed Abu Ghali (159). 10+ family members (1 CANCER PATIENT, NEEDS TREATMENT) 1.5k out of 40k €. EXTREMELY LOW ON FUNDS.
Dina Maliha (160). 7 family members. 6.2k out of 32k €. LOW ON FUNDS.
Ahmed Abu Shammala (161). 8 family members. 0 out of 100k € (40k needed for evacuation). NO FUNDS AT ALL!!
Islam Dahleez (162). 5 family members. 3.2k out of 20k USD. LOW ON FUNDS.
Maha Ibrahim (163). 4 family members (1 CHRONICALLY ILL CHILD, NEEDS IMMEDIATE EVACUATION). 78 out of 100.7k USD. EXTREMELY LOW ON FUNDS.
Tawfik Waleef (164). 5 family members. 11.8k out of 40k USD. (25k needed for evacuation).
Elaf Babiker (165). 6 family members. 15.1k out of 17k USD. NEARLY COMPLETE.
Mohammed Alhabeel (166). 7 family members (3 CHILDREN SUFFERING FROM MALNUTRITION, 2 ELDERLY WITH CHRONIC ILLNESSES) 772 out of 50k €. EXTREMELY LOW ON FUNDS.
Ahmad Waleed (167). 4+ family members (1 SICK, NEEDS IMMEDIATE TREATMENT). 865 out of 10k USD. EXTREMELY LOW ON FUNDS.
Alaa Shamaly (168). 3+ family members. 21k out of 70k €. LOW ON FUNDS.
Amani Hasan (169). 5 family members. 4k out of 17.3k CAD. LOW ON FUNDS.
Mahmoud Hilles (170). 5 family members. 1 SICK, NEEDS IMMEDIATE TREATMENT. 11.5k out of 15k €. NEARLY COMPLETE.
Wafaa Alnhal (171). 15 family members. 1 NEWBORN. 10k out of 35k €. LOW ON FUNDS.
Karam Rafiq Al-Nabih (172). 2 family members. 1 SICK, NEEDS IMMEDIATE TREATMENT. 5.2k € out of 20k €. LOW ON FUNDS.
Iyad Sobhe (173). 10 family members. 2 ELDERLY AND SICK, NEED IMMEDIATE EVACUATION. 7.9k out of 60k BP. LOW ON FUNDS.
Abdallah Alanqar (174). 6 family members. 1 NEWBORN, 1 RECOVERING POST-PARTUM. 10.5k out of 38k €. LOW ON FUNDS.
Amal Ashour (175). 3 family members. 28 out of 30k €. EXTREMELY LOW ON FUNDS.
Mohammed Hilles (176). 6 family members. 11.4k out of 20k €.
Baha Elhosary (177). 4 family members. 15.6k out of 30k €.
Khalil & Amal AND Abdelsalam & Nahla (178). 12 family members. 2k out of 80k €. EXTREMELY LOW ON FUNDS.
Haifa Aziz / Issam Aziz (179). 1 individual. ELDERLY, SICK, AND DIABETIC, NEEDS IMMEDIATE EVACUATION AND TREATMENT. 8.1k out of 9k €. NEARLY COMPLETE.
Yazan Ashraf Abu Safiya (180). 7 family members. 1 ELDERLY AND SICK, NEEDS TREATMENT. 1.6k out of 50k €. EXTREMELY LOW ON FUNDS.
Abd al Aziz Aziz (181). 6 family members. 2 FAMILY MEMBERS MARTYRED, THE REST SURVIVED AIR STRIKE. 1 CHILD WITH BRAIN TUMOUR, NEEDS IMMEDIATE TREATMENT. 350 out of 15k €. EXTREMELY LOW ON FUNDS.
Nada Saftawi (182). 4 family members. 4k out of 16k €. LOW ON FUNDS.
Ibrahim Al Sharif (183). 3 family members. 10.8k out of 20k USD.
Ihab Al-Masaraei (184). 15+ family members. 1 ELDERLY, CHRONICALLY ILL AND DIABETIC. NEEDS IMMEDIATE TREATMENT WITH INSULIN. 724 out of 35k USD. EXTREMELY LOW ON FUNDS.
Mohammed & Israa Habib (185). 6+ family members. ALL STRUGGLING WITH MALNUTRITION. 2k out of 25k €. EXTREMELY LOW ON FUNDS.
Hussam Hijazi (186). 15+ family members. 0 out of 75k €. NO FUNDS AT ALL!!
KEEP GAZA CONNECTED IS BACK!!!
For every e-Sim donated, you get to request one character drawing from one of our volunteer artists!
im one of the many volunteers and below are some of the samples ive done in our last round of requests:
to get started, all you have to do is follow these steps:
follow either of these tutorials to donate an esim
send the QR code to gazaesims@gmail.com
screenshot proof that you sent it to gazaesims
show us proof of donation by uploading in the google form and ask for your request
last but not least, if you are not in a position to donate i urge you to spread this around. esims are very valuable for palestinians to keep in contact with their families and friends and unfortunately, esims are always running out.
keep talking about palestine and do your part in calling for an immediate ceasefire. no one is free until palestine is free!
I am Mohammed Alanqer married from Enas Majed we have 3 children
Amidst the ongoing war in Gaza, we find ourselves as a family trapped between walls of fear and despair. I, Mohammed, a father of three children and a husband to a woman in her eighth month of pregnancy, live in an environment filled with threats and risks.
My technology startup, which I built with dedication and hard work, was destroyed during this war, leading to the loss of our livelihood. My children, Layan, Sarah, and Adam, no longer have the opportunity for education due to the destruction of schools, posing a significant threat to their future.
- "A souvenir photo of my startup company."-
My wife, Enas, lives in constant anxiety due to her advanced pregnancy and the destruction of hospitals in the area. After losing my job and source of income, I find myself in a severe financial crisis, unable to provide for the needs and safety of my family.
- "Me and my wife Enas majed "
Our family home was destroyed due to the war, forcing us to flee and move multiple times, leaving us homeless. Everything has become difficult now; we cannot provide a safe place to live, nor can we afford clean clothes and food for our children. Additionally, our children have been afflicted with diseases such as measles, and our son Adam has been diagnosed with viral hepatitis.
-" layan & sara & adam in the war" -
Our only hope now is to escape from this ongoing hell and find a safe haven for our family. However, this requires exorbitant financial costs, with the coordination fee for crossing borders amounting to $5000 per adult and $2500 per child, a sum I cannot afford alone.
- "My home before the war "-
We urgently appeal for your moral and financial assistance to cover the necessary costs for escaping to a safe environment, where we can build a better future for our children and ensure the safety of our family
Thank you for your attention and support, and we hope you can help us in these difficult circumstances.
Thanks 😊@nabulsi 🙏❤️
Alright then...my turn!
coffee or tea (Tea, all the way!) | early bird or night owl (Night owl, never a morning bird for the life of me.)| chocolate or vanilla (Chocolate and me go wayyyy back.)| spring or autumn (Autumn, always loved it.)| silver or gold (Gold.) | pop or alternative (Not sure to be honest, like both of them.)| freckles or dimples (Freckles, they are pretty cute.) | snakes or sharks (Sharks are pretty cool.) | mountains or fields (Fields, always a safe choice.) | thunder or lightning (lightning, 👍) | Egyptian mythology or Greek mythology (I like both, but egyptian for sure.)| ivory or scarlet (ivory?)| flute or lyre (Flute) | opal or diamond (Opal, ohhh, colors!) | butterflies or honeybees (Love me my butterflies) | typewritten or handwritten (handwritten)| secret garden or secret library (Secret Library) | rooftop or balcony (Balcony, just because) | macarons or eclairs (Macarons) | spicy or mild (mild.) | opera or ballet (Ballet, love to see them dance.)| London or Paris (London? London.)| Vincent van gogh or Claude Monet (Vincent Van Gogh)| denim or leather (Leather?) | potions or spells (Spells)| ocean or desert (Ocean, love me that sea.)| mermaids or sirens (Sirens) | masquerade ball or cocktail party (Masquerade Ball for the mystery.)
That's all I got, this was fun 👍
Thanks for the tag @steven-grants-world (we won't go into how giddy I get when I'm tagged in something!)
This or that…
coffee or tea (neither!) | early bird or night owl | chocolate or vanilla | spring or fall | silver or gold | pop or alternative | freckles or dimples | snakes or sharks | mountains or fields | thunder or lightning | egyptian mythology or greek mythology | ivory or scarlet | flute or lyre | opal or diamond | butterflies or honeybees I macarons or eclairs l typewritten or handwritten | secret garden or secret library | rooftop or balcony | spicy or mild | opera or ballet | london or paris | vincent van gogh or claude monet | denim or leather | potions or spells | ocean or desert | mermaids or sirens I masquerade ball or cocktail party
no pressure tags: @marieziffer, @jewelsrulz, @diplomaticprincess, @wrenwithapen, @witch-oftheflowers, @lunar-ghoulie, @coneygoil, and anyone else who wants to because I hate forgetting people! Do it!
STOP. DON'T SCROLL. READ THIS TO SAVE LIVES IN GAZA. Below are some VETTED campaigns to support Gazans. These people have been experiencing an active genocide for almost a full year. Donate and share widely.
(may 27th)
Save a displaced Gazan Family (@ranibra) - Rania is married with five children, her husband needs medical care. She is now responsible to save her children. Help them evacuate.
Support Fahmi and his family (@fahmiakkila) - Fahmi's life has been turned completely upside down, and he now finds himself responsible to save his parents, sisters, & brothers - 7 members.
Save the Maliha family (@dinamaliha) - Dina wants to save her mother, two sisters, and three brothers. The family lost contact with their father when the genocide started. They desperately need to get to Egypt.
Save Firas' family (@firassalemnewacccount @prosolitudeeee) - Firas is a father of two children, a 10-month-old boy and a two-year-old girl, who are in need of safe haven in Egypt.
Help Husam and his family (@husamthaher) - Husam desperately needs to save himself, his wife, and 3 young children.
Help Nader's family to evacuate from Gaza (@nadershoshaa) - Nader and his family, consisting of six members, are currently displaced in the south; help them evacuate and survive.
The Shamaly family wants to survive (@daee571989) - Help save 15 kids and their family, who are living a horrifying active genocide.
Ahmd needs urgent evacuation (@ahmd-iyd) - Ahmd has lost his livelihood to this genocide, and needs funds to help his family evacuate and rebuild their life.
Help evacuate Hani's family (@skatehani) - A dear friend, and a Palestinian skater trying to evacuate 10 members of his family; he has lost his father to injustice.
Help Iman’s family find safety (@imaneyad) - Iman has a family of 7 who need to find safety.
Help save Youssef's family (@bba3lo @mahmoud7878) - Ahmed Baalousha wants to save his wife, his two sons, his daughter, as well as his parents and siblings.
Support Ruba and Amal's family's urgent evacuation (@rubashaban @amalshabn) - Ruba and Amal's family are lacking the basic necessities of life; they have an elderly father who desperately needs to be evacuated for medical care.
Save little Yusuf and his family (@ahmednabubake) - Yusuf is in an intensive care unit fighting for his life in Gaza; he needs urgent evacuation alongside his family.
Help Omar evacuate (@omarsobhi) - Omar is a 20 year old Palestinian student who wants to save himself and his family from this genocide.
Help Belal and his family to evacuate from Gaza (@alaajshaat) - Belal has lost too much to this war and needs to support himself and his family.
Do not scroll past this list without contributing. This list makes it easy for you to find a fundraiser to support. Choose at least one. Your contribution will save lives. If you cannot donate, share these campaigns.
FIND MORE CAMPAIGNS HERE
My Merciful God! we can no more bear what is going on in our life
My son Asial had just started taking horse riding lessons before the war.
Unfortunately, now he is just a displaced person hoping to survive this insane war
Is there anyone who can rescue us from this nightmare that we do not wish upon anyone? Donate or share
www.tumblr.com/kyra45/748856625293557760/scammer-pretending-to-be-palestinian-v4 if you want proof
Thank you for this information, I was not informed on this. Have a good day, noon, or night.
-Sky
joyfuldreamdetectives is a scammer
??
there is something horrifically grim to it, but illustrations for gaza and palestinians tend to catch more mass attention that actual photos of people. this made me feel incredibly helpless for a long while, seeing both how people would rather look at a neat drawing of red black green and white than look a human in the eyes, and how online platforms would rather push a viral drawing while suppressing those begging for help at the same time.
a way to cope with this feeling has been taking advantage of it to directly guide people to helping palestinians.
if art gets better traction, then there’s an incredible amount of good that can be done by creating art that immediately links to fundraisers. creating art of the many images of those who are asking for help.
within hours of posting my drawing, there has been jumps in the thousands for bashar from gaza’s fundraiser. it’s a small effort in the grand scheme of things. it’s not a fix it. but it’s something good. please take care of each other and do what you can. i think this could help a lot of people if a lot of people did it.
here is bashar. i’ve drawn him, spoken to him, and known him now for a few months. any shares help, any art helps. draw who you see, draw what you see. thanks all
PALESTINIAN FUNDS CLOSE TO THEIR GOAL #2
Help Abdallah and his family evacuate Gaza - £15,698 / 17,000
Help feed Mohammed Alafranji and his family - €1,440 / 10,000
A father's appeal for his children's peace - $20,075 / 25,000
Please help Salwa Al-Shandagha's family survive the war - €6,155 / 10,000
Help Leena and her Family to evacuate from Gaza ASAP - €6,940 / 15,000
WARNING: Mention of Weapons, Blood, Guns, and Death! You have been Warned ⚠️
Chapter 5: What now?
Each step Marc took started to drag slightly as another abandoned train station comes into view, he needs to stop and knows it.
The sky was a mixture of blood orange and blue, night would come soon. They had only made to Damanhur, they were far away now.
Khonshu was gone, only the girl was left. She trudged behind him, hadn't even said a word since they left the inferno behind them.
Jake had been quiet, he had mostly disappeared since then, Steven had told him to keep an eye on the girl, make sure she was doing okay.
He did.
He sits down on the bench of the train station, he's not even sure how they managed to get here but they did.
His legs ached and feet burned from the rays of sun the burning sand and concrete underneath his boots now imprinting themselves into the soles of his feet.
She sits down a couple feet away, her expression unreadable as her hair covered her face, it gently flows in the wind.
She puts her bag down on the ground. Her shoulders and back burned from how long they has ran and walked. She starts to dig through her pack finding a bottle of water, hot air at the top with blobs of droplets.
She couldn't care less of the warm water that went down her throat.
She drinks to heated water, it fills her up for now.
Her face feels hot, the green jacket she has worn the entire time having spots of blood and dirt on it. She wants to wash it but knows it wouldn't do her any good.
Taking it off as the cool air starts to refresh her body, she felt her shoulder ease as the air calmed her nerves, the adrenaline and words of an old man keeping her going.
Katalina has no idea what to think except 'what now?'
'This guy, or guys, whatever is going on with him, don't want her even near them and yet protects her. What if he abandoned her? Leaves her to rot, decay, then fade into the sands?'
Marc looks at her, she seems spaced out at the moment, good. He needs a plan, he feels the weight of the bag in his hand, the weight of a promise, more of a guilt laid in the palm of their hands.
"We have to take her." Steven voice echoed in the back of his mind, he shakes his head. He doesn't want to, he can't. They will fail, he knows they will, couldn't save Randall, what about the child next to them?
"She only has us Marc, we can't leave her here, not like this."
He knows they can't, it would be cruel, which is something he knows that they could never be. At least, not to a kid, he wants to yell, punch something, he thinks he'll scare the kid again.
"Do you want me to front, talk to her?" Steven ask, he nods without a word as his eyes roll back as Steven comes out.
He feels the body, it's exhausted, he can't even imagine how the kid feels, it feels like they walked for hours, they probably did.
His first order was to make sure the kid was okay than they would figure the rest out on the way.
The kid is probably hungry, they need to eat, she needs to eat.
"Hey, are you hungry?" A soft voice comes out bringing her out the train of thought that was going on, 'what did he say?'
"I was wondering if you were hungry, we ran for quite a while back there. Thought you might want something to regain some energy back?" He offers her, its all he can really give right now.
The empty feeling of her stomach let's her know that she still needs food. Nodding, he softly chuckles.
"Thought so." He goes into their bag and finds some dried fruit strips, should be good. He stretches his hand out for her to take, she gets up and grabs it from him.
"Thanks." She whispers as she takes a bite into the tough yet sweet fruit strip.
"No problem."
They eat in silence as the sky darkens for the night, the stars bright and the moon cast it beam of white light across the city.
They finish the ration quickly before he gets up and walks over to her. She looks up as he mouths a 'time to go'. She follows him as they need to find somewhere else to take shelter for the night.
She puts her sweater back on, the heavy material seemingly lighter and thinner than she realized.
The air colder than before, she felt a shiver go down her spine even with her sweater back on. Steven notices and wants to say something but Marc tells him to not say a thing to her.
He keeps quiet. Reluctantly.
Eventually after lots of venturing they found a apartment complex. Most of the windows were either cracked, broken, or magiacally intact.
However there came a problem, both went back amd forth for anyway in, the back entrance and front are locked.
Steven searches the building, he doesn't want to wake any infected that could be around, so breaking the door or window was out the question.
Finally an opening is in plain sight, slight catch, it too small for him to go through. He turns around to the girl who seems to be keeping an eye for any danger that could come out and attack them.
"Hey, Katalina."
He whispered her over to him which makes her turn around and face him.
"Yeah?"
"Think you can reach that window if I help you up?" He ask.
She looks at what he wanted her to reach.
"Yeah, I can do that."
"Great."
He walks over to where the window is and bends down on his knees slightly before cupping his hands as a lift. She puts her foot down on his cupped hands and he pushes her up as he starts to get up again.
She hangs for a second in the middle of the window but climbs in and disappearing into the building, it was dimly lit.
"Careful where you step!" He worries as he waits on the other side for her to open the door for them.
The smelling a burned meat catches her by surprise, grabbing her flashlight and turning it on. The burned body made her gag.
"Hey! Can you open the door?"
She hears him, she answers.
"Ther—there is something in here. It's a little gnarly, not sure if you want to see it." Her voice cracks at the beginning as she looks more and more at the corpse not getting any better.
"Kiddo, just let me in." His voice echoed in the chamber with concern. But he needed her to open the door to make sure it was safe to sleep there for the night.
"Alright, alright. Just, give me a sec."
She turns away from the charred body and looks at what was blocking their path, it was a couple desk piled up together.
She gets to work as she started to pull them off one by one, the noise loud and obnoxious but she could only hope that nothing heard them for miles at least. The scrapping of wood filled both ears.
Soon, all were off or at least to a point in where he could come in.
"Your good!" She tells him.
He pushes the door, the metal door squeaking with every push he did. Finally he gets inside andncloses the door behind him, she managed to move 4 desk from the door.
"Good job."
He compliments and sees how she brighten at it. She lets him pass through, he finally sees what she meant.
"Oh shit! You weren't kidding. He chuckles nervously then looking back at the girl before his eyebrows furrowed with concern.
"You alright?"
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay." She nods.
"You sure?"
She wasn't too sure honestly, wasn't exactly a pleasant sight nor smell to be nearby. But, she's seen worse.
"Yeah."
He nods not really sure what else to add as he turns on his flashlight her copying his action as both started to they walk up the stairs. The sound of their footsteps echos, the moon now all out as the sky turned into a dark sky with little dots of stars to decorate its empty space.
"Here is good."
Steven announces as a hallway with doors with full covered windows is found. The doors with name plates of different family names that no longer hold the residents that once lived there.
Big "X" on the doors, letting people know they could never go back to their old normal lives again.
He goes down the aisle of doors before reaching one with no "X" marking, a good spot. He twist the knob but the door doesn't budge.
"Hold on, I got it."
A hand went on his shoulder as she gently pushed him back and opened her switchblade, she dug the blade in the tiny hole and started to move it around.
The sound of a click let's her know to take the blade out, she twist the knob again and the door squeaked open.
"Ta-da!"
She did jazz hands like she was presenting a magic trick and had succeeded, he chuckles at this.
"Thanks kiddo."
"No problem."
Taking her place and moves forward infront of her and points the pistol out as he goes to checks the place out, even with no visable danger didn't mean they were in the clear.
"Stay here, I need to check the place out to make sure it safe."
She looks up at him in confusion, she can handle it. She's handled a clicker, two even, by herself.
Well the last one not as much but she was ready to take it on!
"I can help." She retorts with.
"Please, just stay here." He pleads with her.
"But-"
"Stay here."His tone final with no room to really argue with him.
She sighs as he goes in and she stands outside the door, she plays with her switchblade as she waits, tossing it and catching, turning it around to see it's detailed markings, and then touching the point with her finger.
Steven goes in and starts to look in each little spot for any spores or infected, the apartment looked teared up.
The place was for the most part still there, broken glass was on the floor due to glass vases and picture frames that fell during the whole commotion he thinks.
Dishes that will never get washed for dinner, the table set up with dust and spider webs instead of warm food to full up whoever family lived here tummy.
His heart hurts but continues to look through the apartment. He goes into one room, it seems to be where most likely the oldest were put.
The bed was dismembered and shredded with little bits of springs and cotton left behind. The covers a now discolored from its green to a more yellowish green color left behind. The pure room was filled with dust bunnies everywhere, he goes inside and covers his nose.
Little knick knacks scattered from each side of the room, for the most part it seemed alright for a decade of abandonment. He leaves and moves into another room, the moment he reaches it a smell comes forth.
Rotting books and food left behind in the room doesn't help, as it seemed to be the more destroyed out of all the rooms seen by him. It seemed like a little kids room, specifically a little girl.
Dolls and color pencils had maroon colored splashes that were obviously not previously there. Clothes and drawings filled one side of the room while the other had a rolled up rug.
A red stain left behind where he thinks the rug was originally. The walls painted with baby blue with small spots of red and brown on it.
He closes the door. It would feel wrong if he went through that room. Deciding that it's enough checking he goes back out to where the girl is.
He sees her as she sat in the wall, she looked bored for the most . He thinks its better that she looks bored than scared or dead.
He clears his throat, "It's clear."
Her gaze follows him as she gets up and puts her switchblade away. They both walk inside as they situated themselves in the living room.
She moves her stuff towards one side of the living room while he takes the other, he took the part where there was glass still on the ground and kicks it away from both of them.
Looking over to see if the girl was somewhat comfortable he speaks again.
"You have something to sleep on?" He ask.
"Yeah, I do." She replies.
He nods as he gets out a blanket, it's color brown and the texture fluffy to the touch, he spent a good amount of ration cards to get it, thought it would be better than the thin one Marc or Jake would use on long travels like this.
Laying down on it he is thankful no leftover glass pierced his back. Taking off the jacket they had worn for the day and drapping himself in it.
As he get ready to sleep for the night he looks over at the walls, covered in words he could read.
'Help us!'
'May Allah save us!'
The people who had lived here before had prayed that their God would save them, he hopes that their god did. It was wishful thinking, but he had hope.
Katalina pulled the backpack under her head as she laid down, she was exhausted from the running and walking they had done. She supposed it will be like this for a while, her head was killing her and the room wasn't helping.
Looking up at the ceiling were patterns that took over each tile that laid on top of her. She turns on her side to try and submit to the slumber her body needed.
She twisted and turned as she tried to get herself to subcome to her exhaustion yet, nothing. The fire of hell had managed to tear itself into her brain as the image of that old man she barely knew accepted his mortal fate.
She can't sleep, it digs deeper and deeper as the guilt of this trio now just a duo as they slowly pick at her brain with what id's and how she could have done something differently.
Anything to have save the grouchy old man.
Nothing comes. Nothing ever comes.
"You okay?" A soft worried voice come into range. She turns to see the guy looking worried, concerned. The moonlight helping to see his face clearly, when she doesn't respond and only falters a stare before it goes to the ground.
"I know this isn't exactly 5 star or anything bu-" He tries to joke with her before he is cut off.
"I'm sorry."
Steven looks confused when those words came out of the girl.
'What was she apologizing about?'
"What? What are you sorry for, you haven't done anything wrong?"
She sighs, what hasn't she done yet. She got his boss? Friend? Whatever he was to them killed, only in a couple days of meeting her he got killed.
"For Khonshu." She muttered not looking at the guy, couldn't face him like this, with the guilt festering inside her along with the other that came down with Khonshu because of her.
Steven was surprised, it wasn't her fault. Not like she was the one who got him bit. That old man wasn't careful, he should have been. More than anything it was their fault Khonshu got bit.
He wasn't fast enough, if he was maybe they wouldn't be alone and this kid infront of him would see it too and blame him like what he did with Ror-
"Look, it wasn-" He doesn't finish his sentence before she goes again.
"It was, I get that I'm a job, cargo, whatever. But stuff like that shouldn't get you killed, right?" She questions before he'd brown eyes look into his, the guilt oozing out of her little by little.
He can't think of anything to tell her is wasn't.
Steven looked around for any reflection, eventually a broken mirror showed Marc and Jake, both looking at Steven then at Katalina.
The kid thought it was her fault, she thinks Khonshu is dead because of her.
Steven eyes rolled back of his head and Marc fronts.
"No, it not. There is no need to bring it up kid. Stuff happens and we move on, simple as that." His gruff tone firm with the response he gave to her.
She looks at him for second before she sighs and sees that he doesn't want to talk about it anymore. After all, stuff happens and we move on.
On a more important note though.
"Hey, can ask you something else instead?"
"You should go to sleep."
"Please. Its important."
He sighs, this kid either trying to get out of not wanting to sleep or just really curious. Rubbing his eyes he from tiredness he let's her ask.
"Go ahead."
She wasn't sure how to really approach this honestly, how the hell do you ask why a guy who could kill you in a second why he seems to switch to different people in seconds.
"It might seem, insensitive but, what exactly is your name? I heard you be called by 2 different names and I have no idea which one to call you."
He seems quiet when she ask him that. Maybe she did a bad move.
Marc had no idea how to respond to that, he's never really told anybody about their situation. Only Layla, Khonshu, and a couple know or knew.
"She's observent." Marc voice echoed in his head.
"We were being a little obvious, the way we act around her is all different. Not to mention the fact that two people called us different names." Steven reminds him of the hints that had been laid flat for her to try and understand.
Marc has no idea where to go with this, how to respond with this question.
The memories of Randall asking his parents why his brother had to keep going to the doctors and them telling him not worry about it. Roro never stopped wondering and Marc never got to tell him the truth.
He deserved the truth.
"We could tell her, make it easier on all of us." Jake suggests. As much as he less than like it, it would make this whole situation a lot easier.
He shakes his head, bad idea, horrible idea.
'She won't understand,' Marc argued back.
He hasn't said anything to her, maybe it was insensitive to ask.
"It's okay if you don't have answer, just want to know what to call you incase of anything." She explains as she starts to mess with her hair taking three strands and starting to braid them.
"Tell her, explain it. She smarter than you think Marc." Steven nudges him to at least try and see where it goes.
Marc looks at Jake as he nods that it's alright to say anything about what they have going on, if they were going to do this they need to be as officiant as possible with what they had. And what they had was a immune kid, plus she could call for them if she sees something they don't.
Marc thinks for a moment about this from a more logical stand point, before getting his thoughts together and making a sentence in his mind to hopefully get whatever it is he wants to say out.
"My name is Marc Spector. I have something called DID, or dissociative identity disorder."
He starts out with, she waits for him to keep going, Steven encourages him to.
"It's this thing where I have other people inside my brain. In a sense there is more than one person in my brain."
He explains as she tries to understand what he is saying.
'More than one person in his brain? '
Marc waits for her response or any real reaction about what he just told her. Her head turns and he can't see what she is thinking. Running a hand through his hair he ask.
"Do you, get it?"
Katalina thinks about it, she's never heard of this nor read about it anywhere with whatever access she had to books. But she tries.
"Sort of. Do him, her, them have different personalities than yours since they are different people?" She ask him in a unsure tone to it.
He thinks about it and explains it. After a while she gets the whole idea, there are 2 others with him in his brain, all with different ways of thinking and acting from him.
"Okay, so how do I know which one is who?"
"You seem to have some sort of thing going on right now. Use that for now."
A nod of confirmation eased him a little into the idea that he told someone else now. He thinks what would Roro had thought if he had told him.
"Can I talk to the other alters or they don't just come out when they want?"
Marc sighs as he waits a little before his eye roll back. Steven comes out, he's happy that she understands, he knew she could she needed was a bit more information to get it.
"I'm Steven Grant, pleasure to meet you again Katalina. "
He puts his hand out, his shoulders were more relaxed and somewhat slouched position from Marc's more stiff and harden posture.
She slowly stretchs her had out to his hand and both shake on it, she can just feel the difference.
"Your the one who gave me the tea, right?"
He nods adding a grin to it, the moonlight shines and hit both of them, Steven gaze was much softer than it had been with Marc. He had eyebag underneath but seemed to be alive even with them.
"Who's the third alter?"
She ask and Steven hesitates, he looks at the mirror to Jake who shakes his head. His face telling Steven to not say anything about him yet.
"He, he will come out and tell you who he is when he is comfortable with it."
She looks at the mirror than back at Steven.
"Alright then." She doesn't pester it out of him knowing that she already got a lot out of them just from this one interaction.
The room goes quiet as she thinks of another question that plagued her since they got here. What is the next course of action for them? Where do they go now?
"What happens now?" The words echoed in the empty room, Steven can only look at the girl. They had decided already what would happen, they just never told her.
She must be confused on what's going to happen to her.
"We all decided to keep going." He was honest with her, her eye widen at the words that came out. She couldn't detect any lies from his answer, only the truth.
"What?" So they explained, talked about how they promised Khonshu to take her to the Timsaeh people, to Harrow. A little part they left out was that they needed this off their conscience and to relieve the load from that old dying man.
He was an asshole even in death.
"So, how do we get to that port that Khonshu was talking about?" She questions him.
Steven can feel Marc and Jake's stare toward him. He sighs as he let's Jake take the lead this time.
His shoulders adjust as his stare seems to harden again, it doesn't feel like Marc this time though, it feel different. His eyes, his stare compared to Marc almost similar only that his was much more intense.
"We know a guy. Unos cinco or sies días de aqí, we get to him, he might be able to help us get to the port faster."
He informs her, it will be long, it's going to hurt but if they want this damn guilt from the manipulative old fuck to go away they needed to get done with this.
"Duérmete, we have a long day of walking tomorrow."
He lays down as he pulls the blanket Steven had put out onto him, the exhaustion hitting him like a truck, age was starting to catch up to them. The hard floor not helping his back in anyway.
"No one is gonna find us here, right?"
Her voice echos as he stops and thinks about his response, the last thing they need is for her to run away from fear.
"No, nobody is gonna find us here."
His tone final and so sure of himself she she sighs pulling a smaller blanket on top of her. She had no trouble sleeping that night. Except from the occasional turning here and there but eventually she settled down.
He waits until he can't hear anymore rustling from the girl before sitting up. Steven did a quick search, but he needed to be more thorough for their safety.
He grabs the pistol from his side and checks the rounds, they didn't have much. They would have to go scavenging for supplies sooner or later, they'll do it tomorrow morning before leaving from this city.
He looks from the teared up curtains outside for any sign of raiders or Sand Riders. There was nothing, the moon glowed on the dystopia of sands and ruin.
He goes through the apartment, each room it's own mess, the people here leaving their whole life behind. He goes back and sees the girl the girl is shivering, the blanket off her.
He creeps around and picks up the blanket, it felt, familiar. He feels the blanket between his fingers, it's soft and used but still does the job.
Looking at the mirror, no Steven, no Marc, the girl turned causing him to step back but then found his footing. Looking at the blanket he draps the girl back in the blanket.
She's no good dying from getting cold. Plus, he needed to repay her for the time she did it.
Going back to the makeshift bed Steven had created, he sits down and watches, finger on the trigger in case of anything. After 30 minutes he lays down and sleeps, they had a plan now.
Slowly he let's the body rest and relax after what felt like years and closes his eyes not fighting the rest this time.
He could actually sleep slightly better even with the wooden floor.
°•°☆°•°☆°•☆•°•☆•°•☆•°•☆•°•☆•°☆•°•☆•°•
"You got what you could!"
Yelled Steven as he closed his pack with as many supplies as he could find. He saw a thumbs up from the side of the aisle and took that answer.
Katalina looked at the section where the electronics laid, there wasn't much left.
It was either ruined or stolen by now, she dug through the piles left behind, she didn't have much hope of finding anything but she still wanted to try.
"What you looking for?" A voice called out causing her to jump a little before looking up and seeing Steven, she puts a hand to her chest "Your gonna give me heart attack like that!"
He chuckles before squatting down, holding onto the metal shelves for support ."Sorry." He replies with as he looks at the old DVD player, it's wires and speaker were completely destroyed.
She looks again before her eyes widen slightly.
"No way." She whispers.
She looks at the cassette player back and front to make sure she didn't get her hopes up. Would be a big disappointment if the batteries were taken out.
"Haven't seen that in a while." He adds as he looks at the somehow salvaged cassette player from the ruins of store they managed to get into. Her fingers traced the line on the player, it seems to be a pretty good condition for what the place has been through.
"You know what this is?"
"I was around when these little guys started getting popular." He recalls as he grabs the cassette player from her, he remembers the songs that would play as Marc would do his Algerba homework for Miss Nick's.
Songs from all types of genre from rock to pop he would go back and forth with different cassette tapes. He of course had his own little collection before Marc knew about him.
He misses just listening to music instead of using it for code, though it was very useful nonetheless.
He hands it back to her and she grabs it before stuffing it into her bag. They get up as they look around one last time before walking back the way they had come from.
The sound of a engine turning off alerted as Steven pulls her down with him, she freezes as he waits a second before the sound of glass being broken under something filled the sounds of the empty shop.
He peaks through the side to see if he could spot the unknow intruder, the shadow of a figure lingering at the entrance of the little shop.
"Shit." He mouths as he looks around for an exit, footsteps now echoing in the distance coming closer and closer, they needed to move.
He turns and nudges his head she understands as they stay hunched to the ground as possible, they make it to another aisle filled with garbage left behind. However to their luck their was a bunch of broken glassware left behind and any step back would blow their cover.
Another crunch noise ticks them as they waits, the sound of chains and boots echoing the overgrown and dirty store. Katalina holds her breath as if it's going to protect her, she waits for the scare like in the horror films she manage to peak when the officers weren't looking.
It stops.
Steven looks at the dismembered toaster on the floor, Marc hardened gaze looking back at him as he nods, a quiet agreement as he pears behind the small metal shelf that seemed to be hanging on its last nails.
Sand Rider.
Known more as slavers but they get their name due to their way of traveling through the sand at high speeds. Only few manage to escape them.
This one had a bandana covering their mouth and nose while a hat covered their head. Wearing a cloth to protect their body from the heat and sand that would blow over when Sand Storms would come every once a blue moon.
In their hand was a pistol and a shot gun held up by chains, the boots with splat of blood on them. They had killed and wouldn't hesitate to kill them either.
Steven takes a breathe through his nose as the switch happens and Jake takes over. His posture changing from Rigid to coordinated as Jake gaze is fixated on the Sand Rider.
'They haven't noticed us yet. Eso es bueno.'
He tells himself as he looks for something to get a distraction giving him enough time to shoot them. A broken bottle laid on the floor a couple inches away from him.
She watches as he moves towards a broken glass bottle that had laid on the floor. He grabs it and moves back to his pervious spot, he check and the rider is still looking for something.
The silence depthing.
He waits for a second before the rider turned then he hurls the bottle to a nearby window that had yet to be broken. It breaks against the force and the rider gets their gun out, Jake is faster.
The sound of a gunshot lingered, the thump of a body and weapon is heard as she gets up and looks, blood starting to leak from the person's head of where a hole now dug itself into.
Their mushed brain stuck onto the white floor and aisle that once stood in. He walks over and pokes the corpse with his boot, their limp and dead, he hums in satisfaction at this as he crouched down and starts to dig into their pockets.
He pulls the person's backpack off and starts to look for anything useful as Katalina stares at him. He feels the stare dig into him as he looks up.
"We need it more than este pendejo. El está muerto." He explains as he just continues, she turns the other way and walks little ways past the entrance. The glaring white light blinding her.
She walks backwards as she smiles at the sight. "Might wanna see this." She tells him as his eyebrows furrowed and he gets up pushing the body away from him before walking towards the smiling girl.
The sight of the machine Sand Riders uses comes into sight, wires and chains hang off it but it looks functional for the most part.
"This works." He says as he goes around and check its design, it fit the aesthetic of the place and person. Along the front is a hole where a key most likely goes, a static sound goes off to the side. On the side is a helmet, but it's only one.
"Dunta, you there?" A man's voice was heard as the radio turned on again.
"We're coming over, keep your tracker on." The man continues before the line is dead, they needed to move.
Jake goes back inside the store and digs through the women's bag for any hard metal that might hit his hand. He eventually feels the cold metal and and pulls it out from inside the bag—the keys.
He goes back out and tries it once before he goes again and the engine of the bike roars of life, it works. This would make this journey a lot faster.
"Vamos, before her friends come for her." Jake instruct as he gets on the bike. He hands her the helmet and she grabs it before putting it over her head and buckling it then pulling down the flap in the front to shield her eyes from both the sun and sand that would fly.
He grabs something for his pack and covers his face with it before putting some type of glasses to keep the sand from getting into his eyes. He stole the glasses from the Sand Rider.
She goes next making sure the backpack strap are on right as she holds onto his shoulder.
He presses the pedal and immediately the bike goes from 0 to 90 mph, the sheer force making her dig her nails into his shoulder as she closes her eyes.
"You ever ride something like this before?!" She yells over the rush of sand and air that flew in their ears. He yells back a response.
"No!"
She groans at the response as she closes her eyes and holds on to dear life so that she wouldn't fly off the damn thing.
°•°☆°•°☆°•☆•°•☆•°•☆•°•☆•°•☆•°☆•°•☆•°•
The fire burns as they set up camp for the night. It had taken two days to get close to where they needed to be but they had finally gotten close enough for walking distance.
They had abandoned the Sand Rider bike due to low fuel, Jake curses that Sand Rider for wasting the gas on the damn machine but they had made more progress than they would have the first time around.
Katalina eats the can of soup as she looks out into the distance of a sunset and the sands shining bright from the glow making a mesmerizing sight to see.
"Finish your food. We leave early tomorrow." He tells her and she nods still looking at the sunset before going back to eating the beans in one of the ration cans they managed to find.
"Why?" She questions before sipping the last bit of beans that was left.
"Do you want a heat stroke niña." With a raise eyebrow he responds with.
"No."
"Then just do it."
She puts the can down and looks at the fire, it danced in front providing entertainment as much as a fire can. She honestly would rather see this than talk to this other alters of Marc right now.
But she need information on tomorrow.
"How long do you think it will take us to get there, with your friend I mean?" He thinks about it, calculating in his mind and then responds.
"About 5 hours, 8 at most and 3 at the least amount. Intentamos para 5 horas para llegar ahí."
"Bien. 5 hours it is, shouldn't be too hard. One might even say piece of cake."
She mumbles the last part, it would be hard. It's been hard from the beginning but hey, she can try and be optimistic here for both their sake.
All she can do is hope it isn't bad as the other times but she doubt it.
Trouble had followed them since the burning of the Khonshu, so all she could hope is that it won't get any worse from here.
°•°☆°•°☆°•☆•°•☆•°•☆•°•☆•°•☆•°☆•°•☆•°•
Yay!!! New Chapter and I didn't even have to cut it off this time. Sorry this took forever to get out, had major Writers block for this but I finally was able to get the chapter out!
Hopefully, the way I am writing now will make this a little bit better of a writing experience!
As always, let me know what I can improve on, or if you just want to tell me how you feel about the story, let me know in some comments, and I will reply as soon as possible.
Love, Sky 💜
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Don't forget about the Palestinians.
Don't forget about them now.
Don't forget about them tomorrow.
Don't forget about them in a week from now.
Don't forget about them in a month.
Don't forget them next year.
Don't forget them in 5 years.
When the history books start to update, don't let them put lies in there.
When documentaries come out, boycott the ones who call this a victory for Israel.
When books release talking about soldier's personal experiences with Palestine, remember the victims. Remember the truth.
Don't forget about what we've seen.
Don't forget about what we've heard.
Don't let them tell lies about Palestine.
Don't forget about the Palestinians when the world tries to make this go away.
A reminder about Palestine:
Firstly, the existence of the country of Palestine was never in question. And secondly, as per the UK's own words in the oft-referred to "foundational" "Balfour Declaration":
"NOTHING SHALL BE DONE WHICH MAY PREJUDICE THE CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS RIGHTS OF EXISTING NON-JEWISH COMMUNITIES IN PALESTINE."
Plain as day.
WARNING: TALK ABOUT DEATH, GORY DESCRIPTION, GUNS, EXPLOSION, STABBING, AND MORE. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED ⚠️
Chapter 4.5: The Infected Type
Steven exclaimed as he realized she wasn't wearing the mask anymore.
"I wasn't lying."
She says as she fixes the straps of her backpack.
"Go over there and wait, I have to check something out."
Khonshu told the girl who looked over to where he was pointing, it was the next building over. She would only need to jump over to make it. She sighs before walking over there
"Parasite, help her."
Khonshu orders Steven, Steven just leaves the man as he goes over to where she was, she looked like she was just debating herself.
"Need help?"
He ask her as she looks over, it wasn't a far jump, just steeper, hell she just zipliner across from building to another from like 20 flight (it's a exaggeration, but it felt like that.)
Yet, look down at the fall and imagining her body, it's all she needs to know that she was not wanting to do this jump.
"How 'bout I go first, and then you go."
Steven suggested and before she could protest him, he did it. Doing it slightly make her feel better but he was literal grown man, his body most likely would not have shattered into a million pieces like hers.
Still, she looked over to him who was waiting patiently on the other side before she backed up a bit, his eye brows furrowed in concern and she run before jumping.
She jumps and makes it to the other side as she lands on her feet, she takes the win. Turning to the side and looking at him she saw him who had his hands ready to grab her in case she did miss.
It went away the minute he realized she was fine. Looking away from him and turns her focus to what's infront of her, the sun kiss her skin as it burns but warms her.
The light had blinded but helped them away from the darkness of the building they just came out of. The capital building was in sight, a grand and beautiful building as others surrounded it like a hold of some kind.
They were almost there.
"Brilliant, isn't it? Everything you hoped for?"
She hears but this time doesn't budge, she could tell he was there.
"Jury still out, but you can't deny the view."
She whispers out for only her and him to hear, sure the world was more barren but this was something she felt was just for them two to have right now. She would leave him soon anyways, might as well remember it by a nice moment.
Steven felt, peace, warmth, not just from the sunlight that produced warmth and heat. This, this was just nice. It was a quiet moment, a peaceful one at that, something they didn't have much of to even remember.
He felt a bit more alive, human, living. He could tell the others were also letting him have this moment, a reason to keep going, to keep having moments like this, the peaceful ones.
"Come on, we're almost there."
A deeper voice came out and both turned to face Khonshu who moved infront to the ladder that hung from the edge of the building. He signaled for the girl to move.
She sighs but moves forward, He watches as she goes down before he starts.
Steven looks down and plays with the ring on his finger, it was the one Randall had picked out for Marc when they were younger.
They were at a store and the two looked at rings and thought they were cool, so with lots of begging, more from Randall, they convinced their parents to let them get one.
They got simple ones, he got one of white with a small moon on it and his brother got black with a star in the middle.
Khonshu saw as he did, Marc and Jake had done it before as well whenever something reminded them of someone he didn't know but knew exactly what it meant when they even glanced at the thing.
"Stay focused Grant, we're almost done with this."
Khonshu comments and Steven eventually leaves the ring alone, it doesn't burn like it before, now it's a reminder, a little reminder.
"Yes sir."
They eventually make it down and the building is only a few feet away. There are trucks and cars in the way but they climb over them, finally they make it close to the building.
"It's looks way prettier up close."
Katalina comments as Steven and Khonshu hummed at the comment. The place is filled with crates and truckloads that looked like they had been emptied.
"I'm gonna check here and you check over there."
Khonshu instructed to Steven who just nodded.
"What about me?"
Katalina asked.
"You, don't get yourself killed."
Khonshu retorts which earns a glare from the girl, he sighs as he looks around.
"Fine, you want to help. Go check that truck then, if you find anything, yell."
He points to a FEDRA vehicle close by where he and Steven can make sure she doesn't leave their sight, again.
She looks over and walks towards the vehicle and climbs it as she looked around for anything. It was mostly empty but then she saw a small amount of blood, drops of it.
She turned on her flashlight and shined the light around the empty truck, there was a puddle of blood up ahead but for the most part there was nothing else.
It was empty, nothing left of its hollow shell.
She turns off the light before climbing out from the back to where Khonshu was still checking.
"There was nothing."
She told him to which he turns around.
"Alright, go wait over there."
He says as he went back she waited for him to go back and focus before walking over to the steps of the building, they were splattered of sandy cement and blood, the color that once shined were now being rusted away.
Steven looked inside the crates to find nothing. It had been emptied, he wasn't even sure what he was looking for since all the other ones were also empty.
He steps back as he looks down before find blood, droplets of it. His eyes followed it as started to trail somewhere.
"Found something."
He shouts as the two look at him, Khonshu looks down where he was following the trail.
"Stay behind me, okay."
Katalina nods as she follows behind as the two have their weapons ready in case of any surprises. They end up at the left side of the building where another entrance was left open, the trail getting bigger and bloodier as they continued.
The door creaked as they all went in, bodies, many many teared bodies were scattered on the floor.
"No, no!"
Khonshu voice thundered in the not so empty building, there were bite marks in different parts of their bodies as there were blood stained against the walls.
Steven felt bile slowly make its way up, the acidic taste going back down as he swallowed it back down. He looks back to the girl who just looked at the bodies, he wish she didn't have to see this.
He felt his eyes go back, someone else would take this.
Khonshu looks at each to see if any survived but to no avail as they all died, each with a bullet wound sealing the deal.
"Look for a radio, a map, anything they might have left for this!?"
Khonshu yells as he starts to dig into the bodies clothes for anything.
"What are we doing Khonshu."
Marc responds as he looks around, this mission was a bust and the guy wanted more.
"I am telling you to find something useful right now !"
He pushes the body aside as he looks through another one.
"Look, the mission was a bust. We can't do anything about this!"
Marc exasperated as he looked at Khonshu like a mad man.
"Where did the maggot say the hospital was that they were gonna take you to?"
Khonshu looked at the girl who was taken aback by the question.
"Uhh, he didn't really specify where. All he said was that it was somewhere off Egypt."
Katalina blurted as she told him which only got a grumbles from the guy who just kept looking.
"Somewhere off Egypt, great. Spector, what are you doing, look around for anything!"
Khonshu commands to which Marc responded.
"No!"
He protest as he pulls Khonshu off the guy he was checking, his hands were bloody, like they should be.
"Khonshu it's over. We tried, it went to shit, let go back to the QZ and tell them it didn't work out and take back the girl to them."
Marc chided as Khonshu pulled his wrist back from Marc's hold. Katalina watched the two as the tension was there, she could cut a knife through it.
"I'm not going anywhere, and neither are you Spector."
His jaw tightened as he turned around and started to look again.
"Why are you so obsessed with this!"
Marc yells and the whole room goes quiet.
"This is my last mission."
Khonshu answers, his voice smaller than before, it sounds tired but irritated.
"What?"
Is all Marc could say before Khonshu got up.
"My luck had to run out sooner or later."
"Khonshu what are you talking about!?"
Katalina connected the dots, his anger, sure he was already a pretty angry person but the way he just was is not normal for the old man.
"Oh shit. He's infected."
She whispered as Marc looked over at her then back at Khonshu. He scoffs before looking up at Khonshu.
"Show me."
Is all he says and Khonshu pulls down the collar, a burning red mark etched itself on the man's skin.
Teeth mark burned into the flesh, it was new and fresh, black viens were spreading across the man's neck to the back of his head.
"Oh shit."
Marc muttered under his breath as he saw the mark. He got bit, he's infected.
"Stupid mistake for an old man, right?"
Khonshu scoffed out as he sat down on one of the benches that weren't destroyed, the sun's light shining through the window as it shined down on the old man.
"Kid, take your bandage off."
His voice echos, it's much softer this time, softer than it had even been.
Katalina slowly unwrap her arm as the bite was very much there but not as red as the one Khonshu now wears, it looked like it was healing.
"Look at her arm Spector, she's real. She exist."
He says as he puts his hand out and she slowly takes it. Gently he pulled her to him and puts the arm out for Marc to see.
The black viens don't spread, not like Khonshu did.
Marc doesn't want to look at the evidence, he rather be dead than accept the fact that an immune person even exists, much less it being a kid.
Khonshu hands start to shake as he let's down her hand gently, he sighs as he puts his hand on his knees.
"You three need to finish the mission. Take the child to Layla, she knew some people who use to run with the timsaeh group."
He tells them as he grabs his canes and starts to dust it off.
"No, no. I'm not taking her anywhere, especially not with Layla, keep her out of it. There is also no way she would even take the girl."
Marc shook his head as he started to pace around, this was more than they signed up for.
He could hear the other two trying to get a word out but also one voice on top of the other. No one was getting listened to.
"This was your mission, we're not doing this."
He argued as he looked at Khonshu who just sighed.
"You can convince her, I know one of you can. Once you do they'll take her off your hands and handle it from there."
Khonshu instructed as he swung his pack over and started to dig through it.
"I know I have been a piece of shit to all three of you, but you still owe me for your life. This will be the end of your debt, nothing left to pay me back."
He grabs a small bag out and hands it to the girl who just takes it.
"No, I can pay it back anoth-"
He doesn't get a word in as Khonshu slams his cane on the ground.
They both flinch at the noise as Khonshu talks.
"Shut up and listen, you are going to take her and she is going to save the world. This is the last thing I ask of you Spector, Grant, Lockly, the last thing from an old man whose about to die."
His words hit hard to the both of them, he was dying, he was a an asshole but still human. He has been here longer than both of them.
"Keep her alive, give her to Layla and set everything right. All the shit I made you all do, it would be repented this way. All the people who you couldn't save would forgive you."
He adds as he finds a small bracelet and puts it out.
"You, stay close to him. Remember, you can still be torn apart even with this miracle of yours. Fight as hard as you can if you need to. Don't trust Harrow."
He tells the girl as he puts the bracelet on her wrist and tightened it so that it wouldn't fall of.
It was a braided bracelet of black and white, a gold piece with the engraving of a sun on it.
She wasn't sure what to say about this, any of it. He was dying, and she really couldn't do anything if she tried. Her blood would do nothing, she's tried.
He then digs again into his pack and pulls put small bag. He grabs Marc hands and closes it pushing it close to his chest.
"This will get you onto a boat ride to leave from Algeria to France."
He says instruct him who just looks confused at what he was saying to him.
"Kept the girl alive. That's the only thing you need to do for this to succeed."
He wheeze as he feels the effects starting to kick in.
A sound of trucks coming got all their attention, Marc rushes over towards the window and see a big cloud of dust.
"Sand riders, were out of time."
He tensed at the sight as Khonshu gets up and walks over to one of the dead timsaeh, they had a whole rack of grenades wrapped around them. He takes them and gets them off as he throws them on the floor.
They scattered as the sound of clincks followed, both backed up from the grenades.
"What are you doing?!"
The two exclaimed
He sees a can of gasoline and starts to pour it around the surround area, including the entrance they came from and the other.
The smell of gasoline burned their nose as they watched the man create a trap.
"To make sure they can't catch you. It'll buy you time to run."
He explained as he digs through another timsaeh and finds a light, along with a pack of cigarettes.
He takes them both.
"Take the girl and run, don't look back. And, you three."
He tells them, he can hear the riders getting closer, he starts to get the cigarette out.
"Save who you can save."
Katalina feels her heart sink, this old man didn't deserve to die, even the small amount of knowing him she feels he didn't deserve this death.
She makes a rash decision, it stupid really but it's the last thing she can give to the old man at least.
She hugs him, her arms tight around his waist, this caught him by surprise. He freezes at the gesture, it's been years since he's been hugged. Much less from a child, he feels like he almost missed it.
She's warm, alive, she'll live longer, he knows it.
She's a strong kid, a good one too. He doesn't say anything though.
He remembered the children that would follow him around. He didn't hate them but was never too good at talking to them. They would climb and chase after him before they were called back, and he went back to protecting the school.
They trusted him, and every one of those children trusted him to protect them.
He failed.
Maybe he can at least save this one child, this one kid.
"I'm sorry."
She whispers out as she slowly let's go and doesn't look at him again.
He looks as the girl leaves, it for the better, he turns around and lights the cigarette before putting it in his mouth. He swung his rifle and grabs it before pointing it towards the entrance.
"What are you fools waiting for! Go!"
He yells at them which got them out of their trance. Marc grabs the girls wrist as she starts to follow and soon they are out of the way.
"Goodbye, Katalina."
He hears heavy footsteps on the steps and gets ready, he honestly never thought he get to choose how he'd died, he's glad about this though. A suitable death, the sacrifice.
The doors swing open and he opens fire.
Marc pulls her out of there, they push another pair of doors before shutting them close.
He hears a yell and shots being fired, he pushes her forward as they make it outside, the air hot and burning as they make it out of the building.
The sound of bang goes off, the feeling of the fire burned his skin as the girl covers her head and both fall on their knees as he covers her with his body.
Eventually only the sound of the burning flames it left, he slowly looks over at the building, it was in flames as the screams and cries of those in its flames burned alive.
Hell had taken over the building.
Katalina watches as the inside burns along with the old man she once knew. They both looked as the firey trap killing what it wanted from the inside, including Khonshu with it.
The black smoke suffocating whatever went near it, nothing was left.
He slowly gets up as the girl looked at it. He was gone, he was alone with the kid.
He feels like he should feel relieved to no longer be in Khonshu presence but feels sadness, the man was not great, he was manipulative and hard on them. But that guy had saved his life, not only his but Steven's and Jake's life as well.
His eyes flickered for a second as if waiting for the old man to come out, but nothing. He wasn't coming back, he had burned himself alive for their sake.
He looks down at the girl who looks like she's about to cry, he wants to tell her it won't do any good but leaves it.
He turns around and looks the other way, they have no other choice but to keep going, what other option did he have.
She looks at the building, the heat radiating off it, she wonders if it hurt, to die the way he it. It was instant, but it might not, the gun fire going on couldn't have been just him.
She looks down at the bracelet he gave her, another thing to remember someone by, again.
Her eyes burn but she shakes her head, crying won't do shit for her. It won't bring him back, she takes in a breath before getting up.
She looks back at him, the guy who didn't want to be anywhere near her, she wonders whether he would kill her if he had the chance. She wouldn't blame him if he did.
He looks at her before walking, she follows behind.
That's the end of this chapter, yay!!
So...I killed off Khonshu, yep.
Took like weeks again but managed a lot due to figuring out whether or not I wanted to kill Khonshu off, but I knew I had to decide, so there's that.
Hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as it was a pain to write.
Comment and tell me what you think, tell me if I could improve on something, until then, Good Day, Afternoon, and Night.
Love:
Sky 💜
This is how it felt to write this chapter. Hopefully, it will be easy sailing from here. (It won't help me....)
WARNING: TALKS ABOUT DEATH, GORY DESCRIPTION, GUNS, EXPLOSION, STABBING, AND MORE. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED ⚠️
CHAPTER 4: The Infected Type
The mosque was abandoned but it had windows and there were things to cover up the doors that no longer locked.
"That should hold, for now."
Jake said as Khonshu went to one side of the mosque while the girl was at the other side in more a darker corner.
They had already searched the place but, luckily, manage to find no infected that were alive to attack them.
The place itself was not in the greatest condition.
It still had a roof and windows that were covered with wood or anything whoever stayed in the mosque the last time could get their hands on.
He looked at the other two as they situated themselves, he walked over to where Khonshu was.
"She's gonna turn sooner or later. Than you'll have wished you listen to me."
Is the first thing the old man says as Jake sighed.
"Don't worry so much, if she turns la mataŕe, fin de el cuento."
He says as he takes out the revolver that Marc had packed in the backpack and places it close to him.
"Even so, we should take turns. One sleep the other watches the girl."
Khonshu said as he looked at Jake.
Jake sighs before shaking his head.
"Your not only looking age but also starting to act like it too."
Khonshu glared at him before Jake had to stop himself from laughing but managed to keep it in.
"Watch it before I hit you with my old man cane Lockly."
Khonshu warned, like a joke but he was not kidding at the same time. He would know, he has wacked them with that cane when he and the others started to training to be Moonknight.
He was making sure that they had lots of endurance and pain tolerance to be Moonknight.
"Alright, fine."
He responded as Khonshu got up and put his stuff down getting ready to sleep. The sky was still slight dark but bits of light were starting to now peaking over the horizon.
He watched as the stars at the sky were slowly fading now as he looked through the boarded up openings.
The world was quiet, for the most part. Little whisp of wind would be heard every once in a while as the grains of sand followed behind it.
He turned to look back at the girl who had fallen asleep by now, she had used her backpack as a pillow and her hoodie as blanket.
He sighs as he holds the revolver and checked it again. The other two would rest for a couple hours than they can sleep a little too.
His fist and feet burned, he looked down at their fist, torn bits of skin were off and the blood had finally run dry from before.
His hand slightly shook as he opened and closed it.
'Not broken at least.'
Is all he can think as all he can think is that moment. He could feel the moment when that FEDRA soilder pointed the gun at Steven and the girl.
It all came back in a flash, it was too familiar for his liking. He looked at the girl but nothing, she was breathing fine.
He not really sure what to make of her, usually he would have asked for more evidence but this time, this time he didn't.
'Why didn't he ask for more proof?'
He looked at Khonshu who looked knocked out as he got up and walked around the mosque, the echos of his boots hitting the floor.
He swung the rifle he was given by Khonshu during the whole "incident" and walked to the front. The architecture of the place was something he admired.
There were little details and patterns everywhere, even with the little bit of light that came from the outside didn't show everything he could tell.
His hand stroked the walls as he felt every dent and curve of the art in front of him and he wondered what it would have been like if it was slightly brighter in the place.
The sound of rustling caught his attention, he pointed his revolver in front to where he heard the noise, the sound of his leather gloves tightening.
He looked only to see it was the girl. He sighed as he quietly walked over. His weapon still in a tight grip as he was somewhat close and waited for anything.
The girl moved again as it looked like she was just uncomfortable with the side she was on and turn the other.
The light that came through beamed on her, her hair slightly curly at the ends as they became wavy at the top. Her hair was slight frizzy at the sides and ends.
There was also the small splat of dried blood from a couple hours ago still on her cheek.
'Eso puede ser un problema.'
He goes to his pack and gets a small handkerchief before walking back and laying it down on the ground. He pulls out a small water bottle puts it there.
'she can figure it out.'
He tells himself before be goes and gets up and leans on the floor as he waits for his turn.
"Alright, your turn Lockly. You get three hours."
Khonshu said as he gets up, the sun high now in the sky as Jake nods and hands over the rifle before walking over to where Khonshu had laid.
The girl was still asleep, it had been 5 hours now.
Small orange butterflies flew above her, they had managed to get through the cracks of the boarded windows.
One landed on her head, it's wings gently and slowly fluttering, a soft sight to see. He sighs as he looks down at his watch, they needed to go soon.
Katalina feels the warmth on her cheek as she opens her eyes before closing them again and turning the other way as the ray of the sun hit hard.
The butterflies flew from her as she started to wake up. He sits up straighter as he points the rifle at her as he waited for any wrong move to come from the girl.
She rubs her eyes wearily before she started to sit herself up. She blinks a couple times as turned her head and seeing the old man looking at her.
She sigh as she looks at the rifle in his hands.
"I'm not gonna attack you, you can put the gun down man."
Her voice quiet yet echoed nonetheless against the walls of the mosque.
"Still could happen worm. You may have been able to convince them of your immunity but I'm not taking that chance."
Khonshu responded as his eyes dug into her brown ones. His black ones reflecting the girl as her eyes flickered between his.
She huffed before she looked at the colorful floor then she see seeing the handkerchief and a water bottle.
"What?"
She muttered as she picked it up, the cloth was slightly worn down but still had slight softness to it as she felt the fabric with her fingers.
Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
She puts the handkerchief in her pocket and picks the water bottle up.
"He left it out for you, clean your face. Along with whatever you need to do as well."
Khonshu instructed as he threw her a magazine at her which she barely caught. The magazine was a food magazine with foods she's never even seen before.
"Do what you have to do as well, we're gonna be walking a while so hope you rested up enough."
She opened it to see different recipes being shown from dinner to deserts, they all looked good but even she knew she would never get a chance to eat it. Maybe in her dreams she could.
"Where?"
His eyes darted to a pair of doors which lead to the rest of the Mosque.
"Nothing bad gonna pop out of there, right?"
She asked as her head turned to looked at him.
"Just you."
He replied with a deadpan face which she returned before rolling her eyes.
She hesitates before feeling for her switchblade and sighed in relief when she felt it there.
The doors were slightly heavy but she pushed through as the sight of a red rug was shown laid out, it was slightly dirty after many years but the color of red didn't fade.
The walls were decorated with patterns and designs, some chipped from the weather but most still intact with cracks here and there.
Soon she made it to the restroom, she pulled out her switchblade and opened slowly opened the door as it squeaked.
She felt herself tense. She knew they went around the check the perimeter, but that didn't mean nothing couldn't have gotten in when they were asleep.
The door opened as the she saw it.
The roof of the ceiling had been broken which would explain the dead infected and the large invasive cordyceps that took up half the wall.
The air around smelled of infected, dryness and a rotting corpse made her retract a bit.
She stood there as she looked at the dead infected, before looking at the ground and seeing a piece of the ceiling.
Picking it up and throwing it at the infected, the sound of a crunch answered her question as her shoulders relax.
She looked at dirty mirror that was covered in dust of the cordyceps that accumulated over the years.
She wipes the mirror in a circle motion and finally seeing herself after 3 weeks.
'I look like shit'
Her hair was slightly frizzy at the sides and bottom. She wished she had a brush but used her fingers to try and pat down and run her fingers through it.
She pulled some hairs out but it definitely looked better. Soon a glimmer caught her eyes as she felt the necklace and the locket.
Slowly she opened it to see the writing ingrained into the metal.
" There is nowhere in this world I won't be there to protect you, whether death or life."
Her finger traced the lettering of the sentence, just feeling it gave her a sense of comfort. Her eyes read the sentence over and over until she felt it was being said to her.
Tucking it back under her shirt she grabs the handkerchief from her pocket and the bottle of water before pouring some on.
She saw the splat and droplets of dried blood from her attacking the soilder. She could still remember how she felt the moment that device was on her neck and the pinch came.
Fear.
That was all she felt, fear.
She felt her chest tighten, her hand scrunched her shirt as she felt the air leave again.
Shutting her eyes tightly she sat down on the floor and started to take deep breathes, she just needed to breathe.
Her eyes burned as she tried to keep it in, in and out her breathe went as the air around suffocated her.
She couldn't breathe.
She just needs to breathe.
Her nails dug into her skin as her hands shook.
Eventually, everything slowed down, she looked around, and felt light headed, finally inhaling the air that was avaliable that he lungs would take she started to count.
What she heard.
What she tasted.
What she could feel.
She was here, here in this broken and beautiful Mosque with people who saw her as an object to trade for weapons.
She wanted her parents back.
She wanted him back.
She knew, knew that they would never come back though. They are gone, no one is gonna protect her from this.
Her fate. Her fate was to save the world, that's why she is here, her immunity, it would make up everything. Every sin that she had ever committed.
Against humanity for the pure reason of her existence being both a blessing and curse.
She took another breath before wiping away the few tears that did fall. It would be over soon, they would take her and leave her alone.
Just how it was meant to be. She was afraid but willing to be alone for the rest of eternity if it meant that she could fix the world with her immunity.
Because that meant something.
It has to mean something.
Pushing herself off the floor she opened the bottle and poured water before rubbing the handkerchief on her cheek.
The dried blood rubbing off as she did motions in circles to take it away.
It would always be there, because she would know it would be there.
She sighs as she looked at herself again.
Her beginning eye bags starting to form from the amount of sleep she didn't get. This was probably the most sleep she's gotten in days now.
Her parents would scold her, saying things like.
"Te vas a quedar corta así."
She chuckled at the made up version of them. She missed them.
She poured some water into the palm of her hand as she splashed it on her face to wake her up more.
Soon there was a knock.
"Niña?"
A voice called out, she knew who it was.
She turned towards the door.
"Estoy bien. Almost done!"
She yells as she looks at herself one last time before putting the handkerchief back into her pocket and grabs the water bottle.
She opens the bathroom door and looks around before finding him leaning against the wall.
"Vamos, we're leaving."
He said before getting up and down the hallway. The revolver in his hand ready to shoot if nessecary.
She looks at the gun and then remembered the switchblade she has, it feels heavy in her hand as she closes it and shoves it back into her pocket.
"Took you long enough, we have no time to waste."
Khonshu rushed them both as they packed up what they had.
The wooden table tables were removed by the two as Jake went first and checked around for any infected.
"Clear."
He states as Khonshu opened the door more and starts to get out before Katalina follows behind.
There are other buildings around but most had been lost to the sand or by people.
"I thought cities were full of infected?"
Katalina questioned as she looked around but ultimately there was much but streets and broken down shops and cars around.
The sand had covered due to the winds and broken windows, no longer were building or apartments protected by the harshness of Egypt nature.
"Thats what they tell you. But they only say that to keep people in, away from others to keep them isolated."
Khonshu explains as she paid attention while Jake overhears the conversation as he looks around for any infected of unwanted people.
The sun rays burned on to of the city as light shined on the broken down city that once thrived of life.
There we no vendors, no shops, no children playing around, no mothers telling the older ones to watch the younger.
Nothing more than rotting, burned buildings and stands that will never have a full living person to occupy the space.
A arm is put out before she stumbles and looks at who had stopped her.
"Oh."
She looked at the giant hole, it was filled with piles and piles of what remains of the "old ways."
Clothes, electronic, cars, corpses.
The smell was mostly covered by the smell of ash and dust of how long that was hole was created.
"This is how they tried to keep the infection from spreading. "
Jake spoke as she was about to ask but eventually just closed her mouth before nodding.
They walked around the filled hole.
It was quiet as she found a rock on the floor and kicked it around as the two keep going looking at each other speaking through their eyes as she kicked the rock in front of her.
"Here, help me up."
Khonshu voice rings out as Jake grabbed Katalina shoulders and pulled her back as he went to help him.
Jake put his knee and palm out as Khonshu climbed onto the tipping structure, the structure looking at its last leg about to sway one way or the other like the tower of Piza.
"Ven acá."
Jake ordered as Katalina walked over before putting his knee out.
"Climb."
Is all he says before she looks at him hesitantly to which he sighs at it.
"Just do it."
At his words she starts to climb, he starts to stand up and she jumps a little before Khonshu grabs her hand and pulls her up.
Eventually she makes it to the top before looking down as Jake jumps up and Khonshu grabs his hand and helps pull him up.
The building started to shake slightly, they all stood still as they waited for it to stop.
The ground eventually stopped shaking as they waited another minute before starting to walk inside the building.
"See if you can find anything."
Jake tells the both of them as they nod before Katalina follows Khonshu while Jake goes into another room.
Jake opened the door to an office, signs of new projects needing to be done were scattered on the floor, some with drops of blood.
It smelled of metallic and dryness filled his senses, nothing he couldn't handle.
"We can't stay here for long."
Marc says as he appeared in a broken window, he seems anxious but tries his best to repress it.
"Ya sé."
Jake replies as he pulled the drawer on one of the desk. It held nothing, he leaves it as he goes somewhere else.
"How is she doing?"
Steven said as he appeared in the dirty mirror as Jake started to rummage through the cabinet.
"She's fine. Deja de estresarte por ella Steven, te va dará dolor de cabeza así."
Jake asserted as he found a water bottle that was dried up.
Nothing. Everything in this place was practically useless at this point. Nothing would really be of value for him or the other two.
"Why did you give her the cloth?"
Marc asked to which Jake stopped, he wasn't sure about that one.
No, he did know.
"If we ran into anyone, you really think it would be normal for a girl her age to have splattered blood on her face with us?"
Jake argued before he just rubbed his temples.
Marc looks at him deeply, he doesn't believe him.
Steven gaze lingers on Jake who usually had a better responds but something seemed different this time. He could tell something was different.
"It would raise too many question."
Jake uttered to the reflections, both nodded as they took the answer because they knew they would get nothing else out of the alter before disappearing. He doesn't like arguing with them, that not his job.
"Hey?"
He turns quickly pointing the revolver towards the girl before seeing that she raised her hands up. Her eyes widen at the weapon pointed at her.
"Woah! Sorry, sorry. Didn't mean to scare you."
She voices as she put her hands down so slowly that he notice the slight tremble her hands did when they did come down.
"Didn't scare me."
He responds.
"Doesn't look like it from here."
She muttered before clearing her throat and looking down after seeing his deadpan expression.
"The old man with the cane, Khonshu. He needs you for something."
She tells him as he nods as she leaves and he follows behind.
"He's over there."
Pointing towards what seemed like another entrance he walks over to Khonshu who is looking out into the world.
Khonshu hears the sound of Jake's footsteps and turns to see him.
"Took long."
Khonshu comments as he points to a building, but the building is shining brighter than the others.
The top pointed up with its roof still intact unlike some other apartment and structures that surround it.
"That is where we go to drop her off."
Jake looks at the whole thing, the building that hide the capital building were either titled or the tops completely destroyed with only rubar and concrete left behind.
"We would have to cross through the Tanta Museum to get to the capital building, its longer but safer that way and less chance of attacked by infected or by other groups."
Khonshu hummed at the information.
"The shorter route would make the drop faster. The longer we are out here, the higher chances of groups finding us on this tra-"
"Guys!"
A shout intrupped the two as they turned around to see what the girl was shouting about, a small dust cloud was in sight of Sand Riders came into view.
"Shit. Sand Riders must have saw us back at the Mosque."
Jake cursed as he looked at Khonshu.
"Grab the girl!"
Khonshu stressed as he puts his pack down and starts to dig into it for something. Jake has an idea of what he is going to look for.
"Grab on!"
Jake shouted as Katalina ran over to him as his hand was extended, she jumps but can't reach.
"Merida, hold on!"
Katalina curse her body in that moment, she really needs that growth spurt to kick in soon.
Jake jumps down and get back into position like before.
"Just like last time."
He tells her as she nods and doesn't hesitate this time, one shoe after the other she climbs and gets one shoe on the palm of his hand before he lifts her up and she jumps as well.
She grabs the edge as she dangles slightly before pulling herself up with what she had, she makes it up.
She turns around and extends her hand out, he sees it, he seems hesitant to think the girl could even take his weight.
"I can take it!"
She shouts before he grumbles under his breath and jumps, she grabs his arm tightly as she pulled as hard as she could.
He started to pull himself up, she let go of one hand before grabbing one of the loops of where his belt was on his jeans and helping get him up. He makes it as well.
They look at each other for a second before she nods and he nods back, he pulls her up on her feet.
"Come on idiots!"
Khonshu yells as he goes down the line onto the next building over.
The line was long but eventually he made it as he got rid of his harness and roped it around for them to use.
"No, no. Your kidding me?!"
Katalina exclaimed as she saw what he wanted her to do, the drop was high, she could do heights but not this height.
(Okay, maybe she pissed him off a little more than she thought.)
They were going to kill her.
She was going to die from falling, splat, dead, all her brain matter would smudge the already dirty floor below. She really wishes that FEDRA soilder had kill her when he had the chance.
"No, I'm not."
Jake answered as he reached for the harness and grabbed her arm.
"Look I'm sorry about the joke from before. Just don't make me do this."
She says as she pulls her arm a little away from him, he could tell how scared she was of this, her backing away, her shoulders getting tense, they way her words cane out much more quieter than before.
He looks behind her, they were getting closer, he need her to just do this. He gently pulls her closer by her shoulders to make her look at him.
"It's not because of that, no tienes mucho opciones ninã. Trust me. That dust cloud is getting bigger, the bigger and closer it gets the more chance you are of being in danger by that group than this rope."
He finally says as he looks at the dust cloud that had just gotten closer, he's got no time.
She nods as her eyebrows furrowed but understood what exactly he was telling her as he starts to put the harness on.
The sound of a click let her know she was attached to the rope and he pulled it slightly to make sure it held her to make sure she didn't fall off in the middle of her ziplining down.
"It won't snap, right?"
Her eyes turned to face him as he was about to let her go.
Her brown, golden eyes digging into his darker, brown eyes, the sunlight hitting her as he stood in the shadow of the inside of the toppling building.
Her eyes searched for something in them. Reassurance, cause she needs that from him.
She needs to know she'll be okay. She needs to know if she can trust him.
He told her the truth.
"It won't."
He reassures as he let her go before a small yelp came out of her as she slid down the zipline, grabbing onto the line as hard as she could, her curles whipping in the air as she went down.
"Watch her, please."
A voice said, it was Steven, he knew it was him so he did. For his sake.
He watched as she made a stop with Khonshu grabbing her arm and pulling her closer to the inside of the other broken building he landed on.
Khonshu starts to get her off the line, Jake take it as his signal that he can go now. He looking inside his pack and pulled out his harness.
He checks the rope before going down the ziplines across the other building that had either troppled or were just left in rubbles below him.
His curles going with the wind and before he knows it is caught by Khonshu hand who pulls him in.
"Make quick work."
Khonshu whispers as Jake nods and grabs the rope before pulling at its ends as it snaps. The line is cut and the rope dangles on the other side.
"Lets move."
Khonshu commands as he breaks the door down Katalina and Jake following behind him.
The place was much more brighter than the one they were in previously. The sound of clicks stopped them from observing the building.
Clickers.
Both Khonshu and Jake looked at each other with a nod.
Jake turns to look at Katalina who looks confused, he puts a finger up to his lips before mouthing.
"Don't make a sound."
She reads it and nods as Khonshu grabs her by her wrist and they slowly go the other side making sure to look where they stepped.
Appearing on the other side was the clicker itself.
'What fucking luck.'
She feels like the world was just messing with them at this point.
They froze as it screeched in their face, the other two stood still ans didn't make a sound nor breath as it twitched as if was trying to find them.
Katalina could feel her muscles and jaw tightened as she tried not to make a sound. Her eyes were closed as her hands turning into a fist.
Jake knew he could get rid of the thing, but he would need to be quick about it.
It was only until another screech that Jake eventually stabbed the clicker in it head, the knife digging into the thick layers of gray and green harden skin.
The blood spilled as he takes it out and stabs the clicker again, it overflows as the infected crumbled and spasms on the floor before dying all together.
Katalina could finally breathe again as she unclentches her jaw and her muscles started to relax again, they wait a second to make sure it died. Khonshu nudges her as he tilted his head for her to get moving.
They all slowly walk down broken stairs as the sound of clickers starts to fade, they hopped down once the end of the stairs came.
Well, the guys did.
"I don’t know about you guy, but I don't plan on making my knees hurt just yet."
She whispers as she looks down at the two men who look at each other before Jake sighs and Khonshu takes out his rifle leaving the two as he searched the area.
"Necesitas auyda ?"
Jake ask as she looks down then at him
"Nope. Just give me a second, I think I might have an idea."
She says as she sits down and slides down, Jake can only look as the girl then dangles herself from the edge of the broken floor.
He watches the girl knowing damn well that this was a stupid idea but letting her figure that out might be good for her.
She holds on before seeing that this was probably not her best idea with no way of getting back up to think of something else. She's stuck.
"Fuck."
She mumbles under her breath as she sighs.
"I might need help."
She finally admits
Jake let out small snort at the girls stubbornness but also realization that her "idea" wasn't gonna work.
He shakes his head and puts his bag down at the side before looking up at her.
"Let go, I'll catch you."
He says as he opens his arms to show her that he was ready.
She feels her face heat up a little not by the heat of sun but of the pure embarrassment she is feeling, but she doesn't think she has another choice.
She can try though, right?
"Isn't there like something I can climb down on?"
She grimace as she says that.
"Ninã."
He started to scold her.
"Alright, okay. Fine, just-"
'This is embarrassing.'
She takes a breathe before letting go and falling, closing her eyes last second as the feeling of her stomach dropping lasted a second.
Before she knows there are arms around her back and knees holding her tight to make sure she didn't slip through. Her arms hugging his neck for support, her head under his jaw as they stood there for a second.
It was tight but not enough to hurt her, just enough to keep her close to him.
It felt like a hug, something neither him nor any of the alters have had in what felt like years.
He feels a memory come back.
Randall, when he was a kid, he loved going at the top of slides or swings before Marc, Steven, or Jake had to catch him as he flew through the air making him feel like a hero from his action figures and show.
Because he trusted them, that they would always catch him, protect him.
They couldn't, not when it meant the most.
What makes them think they can protect her anymore than they could have Randall.
Jake felt as his eyes rolled back.
Marc fronts as he starts to turn and dropping her on her feet. He unwrap his arms from her and she unwrap her arms from his neck.
"Thanks. Sorry for all....that."
Is all she says before she rushes herself out the feeling of embarrassment still left behind for him to catch on.
He remember how it got to here, It's not like he had a choice. It was either they catch her or she literally breaks her knees.
He stays there with his thoughts, he still feels the weight of his brother like he was still there. He feels the weight leave of a child in his arms, there was nothing left to protect after all.
He shakes his head as he grabs the backpack from the ground where Jake had left it and followed behind where Khonshu was waiting the girl looking at the scene.
"This place once was filled with people, language, culture, and so much more than you could have imagined worm."
He hears Khonshu tell the girl as she looks up at him then back at the broken and wreck the world had become since the days of the outbreak.
She looks back the sight, she can't really imagine that, she has lived in a place where sure their were people but definitely not as many as their was before.
She wonders what kind of things would they sell, would they sell shoe laces or food instead, what type of clothes did they wear, what would they talk about?
"That's, hard to imagine."
She says as she looks out, the places was lifeless, the only thing left was stains of blood and the undead taking over anything with life in it. It sucked the joys of living into the more black and white of surviving.
Marc could feel a small ping of sympathy for the girl as he thought about it from her point before shaking the feeling away.
He can't get attached, that's how he gets hurt.
"How did you get that bite mark worm?."
Khonshu ask as he looked down at the young girl next to him. The next generation of people who will never know about the world before which he grew up and was raised in.
He thought maybe he would die in it too. How foolish of him.
"You know that hotel that was cut off from becoming apartments a couple districts down 11 and 4."
She replies, might as well give it up now.
Marc listened from a distance.
"The one they told everyone never to get close to because it being full of infected?"
Khonshu replied as she nodded.
"It was a good place to see the pyramids and I wanted to see it for myself, got to. But got jumped by a runner and then I got bit."
She told him as picks at her nails looking at them like they were more interesting than the story itself.
"And you went there, by yourself, at 14."
He stated as she nodded. He lightly chuckles.
"You got guts worm, I'll give you that. All for the sight of the pyramids."
He says like a fever dream almost. Deja Vu in a sense it seemed to roll off.
Katalina felt a a tug at the sides of her lips at the compliment from the man, a smile of pride about it but got rid of it quickly so he couldn't see it.
She wasn't sure if doing what she did was even a proud thing to have accomplish.
Khonshu eventually looks out one last time before turning around and leaving through the hole in the wall, she watches before looking back up at the sight again.
Marc listened to the story, it seems realistic enough.
He watches as her eyes flickered, the sunlight making her not seem so much rougher than she looks.
She looked softer, much more younger now. Her eyes however told another story, she was exhausted not just by sleep but what seemed like living in general.
Just like he was, and he could understand. He was there, they all were, but he had to find a way to move on, it took years and he was much older.
This girl was 14 and she seemed so tired, much more tired than he did or any other kid should be.
She eventually rubs her eyes from how the sunlight hitting her iris and started to follow through where Khonshu had also went to before he following behind her.
The three walked a little more now with more distance from the Sand Riders, Marc and Khonshu knew they would eventually lose interest in them since they tended to only just stick around when they found people vulnerable.
The entrance of the museum was grand yet old. There were plants growing on the building itself and little bits of graffiti like the one back at the QZ littered the forgotten history the place held.
The letters half up and the rest laid on the floor of the steps to the entrance of the museum cracked and destroyed.
It was a beautiful entrance, the plants that grew around it made it seem taken back by nature which most cities had been taken by.
The cordyceps were scattered all over the walls and stretched like vines as little bubbles of its air were around.
"Get your mask."
Khonshu ordered and Marc obeyed as he dtarted to take out his gas mask. Katalina looked at them both as they got their gas mask out, she wondered if she would need it too.
"You got a mask?"
Marc asked the girl as she nodded.
"Get it out and put it on then."
He told her as he placed the mask over his face and made sure there were no cracks and that he could breathe.
Katalina heard the change again, an American accent. The one that shouted and then apologized for it (not really but it's what she was gonna get from him right now.)
"But, I'm immune to the cordyceps, the spores don't do anything to me."
She tells him before he gives her a look.
"Not asking, just do it. Get a flashlight as well, its dark and hard to see."
He tells her as she sighs and digs into her bag for the mask for herself and got the flashlight that Harrow had given her.
They all slip their backpack on again and Katalina looks at the door, it's slightly open as the inside seemed almost completely black.
Like pandoras box, ready to be open and get you.
She felt a chill go up her spine.
"So, why exactly are we going through this museum anyways?"
She questions as she couldn't understand why they need to go through this specific building and not the other ones around.
"There is a exit at the top floor of this, it's a shorter way, more dangerous but still a way."
Khonshu explains as she just nods and takes it.
"So, it's fine then? To like go through?"
Khonshu nods and she looks at Marc who sighs and nods slowly as well.
That was all she was gonna get from the two.
Khonshu was the first to get closer to the cordyceps before poking his cane at the thick vine like cordyceps that took parts of the building for its own.
He taps a couple times before stabbing it for a loud crunch noise to come out of it. There is a small cloud of spores came out and came to his conclusion.
"Seems like most of the infected are dead. But some of the spores are still around, keep the mask."
Khonshu ordered as the two nodded and he went in first, the inside was dark and filled with dust everywhere.
Broken or stolen artifacts, paintings torn or left alone were around but for the most part everything was where it was left the day of the outbreak.
Katalina looked around, the top of it was filled with designes of constellations words in arabic and english describing them.
Marc looks around the place, it had been years since he's been through a museum, much less one in egypt. However he soon felt his eyes roll back as Steven now fronted.
He was thrilled, the museum had all types of facts such as how things were built in the ancient times of Egypt, the way gods were worshipped, ect.
He looks back then at Katalina who was looking at the ceiling reading what the words said.
"The Egyptian invented modern navigation."
He started out with which startled the girl, that change, it happened again.
"Oh, sorry 'bout that. Just, fun fact, thought you might want to know that."
He says as he looked at the girl who nodded and looked at the ceiling again, she thinks for a second before speaking again.
"Anything else to add to that fun fact?"
She asked as he felt a small jolt of excitement hit him as he nodded and he continued.
"There aren't a lot of land marks in the desert. So, they came up with a way to get about it using the sun and the stars."
She nods with a smile as she ingraves the information into her brain like every other fact she learn in books or movies she's seen.
"It's bloody genius, right?"
He said as she nods.
"Yeah, it is. They are very smart for using the sky as thier way of navigation, like the Polynesian people did as well, they would also use the stars to know which direction to go when voyaging."
She added as well which he made him happy that she was adding to the fact he just told her. Khonshu watched the two talk, he knew exactly that look. Steven.
He uses his cane to slightly hit the wall getting both attention of the two.
"If you two are done, we have somewhere to be, hurry up!"
He reprimand as Katalina looks at him before feeling a little bit of fear and frustration but decided to just do what the old man said.
"Get moving. You, I'll deal with you later."
He says as he pointed at Steven who just looks at Khonshu in annoyance from under his mask, he was just trying to teach her something.
'Hot and cold much'
Katalina thinks as the girl walks pass him following Khonshu who was waiting for them by the stairs.
Steven followed behind before looking at the ceiling one last time. The stairs up were made of concrete with some edges being taken off due to part of the building it self starting to collapse over time.
The two followed Khonshu as as they slowly stepped over the long think vines of cordyceps that took over the rest of the way up.
A sound of clicking caught their attention, a sudden stop was made as they waited for another sound to be heard, Khonshu looks at Steven who grab the gun from pants and pulls it out ready incase of anything.
The girl looks at the two before taking out her switchblade ready to fight for her life if she had to.
They continued up the stairs, their flashlight lightning their way through the dark place as a sense of dread and death went down their spines.
The place started to fill up with more and more spores as dead infected were seen laying there, their bodies no longer resembling anything human or whatever remained of the person they use to be.
They make it to the top, wood and pieces of concrete covered the path of the door, the wooden door was slightly open showing another room of artifacts that never made it to the displays down below.
Khonshu looked at rubble that laid to where they needed to go, he moves forward before squatting down and starting to push it up.
The air started to clear up as the circulation moved, it turns opaque as he moves the junk away. Steven decided to help him as he forward to help him push the things up and out of the way for them to cross.
"Go."
Khonshu strained to say as the girl ran quickly in, the sound of the ceiling about to fall rang out and she push them both back as it fell back. A cloud of gray and yellow dust filled the room and hallway.
The two men landed on floor as they waved their hand to clear some of the dust looking for the girl who was now stuck on the other side, alone.
"You two okay?!"
She shouts as the sound of creaking echoed through out the building.
She looked worried as her eyebrows furrowed, her eyes searching around for the two.
"We're alive, stay over there. Don't move, we'll find a way over there."
Khonshu says as Steven had already gotten up and helped Khonshu us before grabbing his cane.
The sound of groaning and clicking rang in their ears.
"I don’t think I can!"
She yells, her tone noticeable got higher as she hears the stomping of shoes coming, infected, they were awake.
"Then run!"
"We'll find you!"
The two shouted out saying as she runs to the other side, the men see as two clickers were following behind her at full speed.
"They're gonna kill her."
Steven muttered as he felt his mind racing, his chest feeling heavy, it hit him hard, he has this feeling that he needs to get her out of there. And quick.
"Then let's get out of here and find her."
Khonshu rough tone clicking as the two looked for another way out to make sure she didn't get killed in there.
She sprints as fast as she could. She knew about clickers and made a plan on what she probably would do in that situation that had one of them after her.
It went completely out the window.
She looks around for anything, she feels her palm starting to sweat as her switchblade and flashlight were the only thing grounding her. The hurried sounds of the clickers not helping her already panicing state.
The sound of her heart thumping filled her head as she finds a statue and pushs it out of the way before turning away from it and hiding behind a broken display case.
The infected go after the noise as they screeched, she puts her flashlight on the ground and covers her mouth as she tries to calm herself down.
Her nails dig into the palm of her hand but she knows she can't move, if she does they find her.
'However, you aren't immune to being ripped apart, child.'
The words echoing in her mind from what Harrow had said a while back when she was asking him questions.
She hated him at that moment for the image, she could imagine her mangled body as the infected tore through her skin and flesh, her body parts being ripped out whatever made her human.
She could imagine her heart being torn up by their teeth, every little vain and muscles smeared on the monsters mouth as it ate it up.
She tries not to think about that. It's hard.
She looks down at her switchblade, then at the clickers. She doesn't have much choice but to either kill them or they get her.
She rather stay alive to make sure this vaccine thing worked.
She lifted the gas mask and wrapped the straps on her bag. She breathed the air through her nose as it went into her lungs she needs her heart to stop beating so hard.
Sweat formed on her forehead as she wipes it off and looks around.
She needs to concentrate, she needs to remember her training as shitty as it was.
On the ground laid a bottle, a glass bottle, a distraction.
She made a plan, slowly she moves from her crouched position, the clickers still moving around and hearing for any sound to catch their prey.
Prey and predator was the game.
She grabs the bottle, slowly looking behind her, she lifts it and gets ready. The bottle flew through the air and hit the side of the wall earning a yell from the clickers who raced after the sound.
Looking around she found a piece of concrete, grabbing it. She goes back to her spot and ties the flashlight to her backpack.
The two clickers twitched and made small noises as they couldn't find where she was. One eventually moved towards another part of the room, an opening.
She puts the brick down as she moves up.
She knew where to hit as she had seen the guy named 3 names had before and go for the head.
She jumps on its back wrapping an arm to keep her there and she can only reach the neck and goes for it, she stab at the side of its neck, digging deep as the blade goes in again and again.
Blood starting to spill like a fountain from it.
The creature yells and screeched in agony, it tries to claw and bite at her. Eventually she jumps off once she thinks its enough and backs up as it falls to the ground still trying to fight off its attacker.
The sound of the other one becomes clear as she remembers the concrete brick on the floor and throws it at another wall, it turns that way as she moves away from it.
Her hands and blade bloody again. As she looks back and sees a puddle of blood pouring from the infected, it wouldn't get her at least. She was just a little but safer.
She needed a way out, but couldn't find one. The old guy, Khonshu had said there was an exit around this floor, she just wished she knew where.
A bellow was heard grabbing her attention as turned around to see the other clicker getting ready to pounce on her.
It falls down with a thud as it tried to attack whatever got it, a silver cresent in its back glimmered with blood coming out.
Soon, a black boot stepped on its back before the sound of a gun went off as the sound of splattered matter echoed in the room
She flinched at the sound before looking at who had taken down the other clicker. It was the guy with 3 names, he looked concentrated, his eyes narrowing on the dead clicker as if seeing if it would try and fight back.
It didn't, he looks up and spots her as she looks at him then at the dead clicker he just killed.
A switch in emotion happened in his eyes as furrowed concentrated eyes turned into concerned and relieved ones.
"There you are."
He says as he steps over the dead infected and goes to her. She looks at him as his eyes searched for something.
His eyebrows furrowed as he looks at her arm, she looks down and sees the bite mark, it was a little deep and it was starting to bleed. His eyes looked back her concerned and worried about the second bite mark on her.
"You alright? Where did you get the other bite?"
He questions as he puts his bag down and starts to search for something.
Must have gotten her and the adrenaline must've kepted her from feeling it, it was starting to weaken though.
"I'm not dead so that's the good thing, to answer your other question, look over there."
She points to the other infected that she had stabbed to death.
Khonshu came into the picture as he walked over to the dead clicker. He taps on it with his cane as if seeing to make sure she had actually killed it.
"You killed it?"
He didn't really believe her.
"Yeah, with this."
Showing the now bloody switchblade and he hums before nodding.
She's not sure what to make of that, looking back at Steven who now has a bandage for her and a small alcohol wipe.
"Do you want me to clean it or can you?"
He ask her. Nobody has asked her that in years.
"I can do it."
She takes the alcohol wipes and rubs it in deep, it burns and she want to cry a little but holds it in as she finshes cleaning the wound.
"I'll wrap it, alright. Tell me if it's too tight."
Steven tells her as he starts to put a small cloth on the wound before wrapping around some bandage, he is gentle as ties it up.
"Good?"
And she nods.
"Let get out of here then."
Khonshu says as Steven closes his bag and lets Katalina walk in front of him as she gives a small nod of thanks to the gesture.
They make it to the roof of the museum, the exit Khonshu was talking about. The other two take off the gas mask as the bright sun blinded them, they all blinked a couple times to adjust.
"Wait! You were breathing in spore!"
this ramadan we pray for peace and aid for the people of palestine. this ramadan we remember the previous ramadans, where thousands of palestinians were massacred. this ramadan we honour palestine, and may we see a free palestine next ramadan
hi!
i saw your post the other day spreading the joyous news that is the moonknight boxset in which you talked about a deleted scene: confrontation with wendy. i’ve never heard about this deleted scene before and i’m having trouble finding information about it online. i was wondering if you perhaps could bring some clarification?
i’m so starved for more moonknight (tv) content and am racing to whatever crumbs are scattered; i’d love to know more about what you were talking about!
thanks so much! :)
P.S. i absolutely adore your work on ao3 and analyses. mwah mwah ty
So they released this image AGES ago shortly after the show finished up. They said they had shot a scene where Marc and Steven are still in the inner world Duat room thing and they both confront Wendy over her abuse and how it hurt them and how she no longer has power over them.
They noted that they were able to do most of it in one shot because at this point in the filming, Oscar had Steven and Marc figured out so well that he could switch between them without any effort so you got to see him talk to Wendy as Marc then Steven then Marc then Steven without cutting. And they said Oscar was AMAZING in it.
This scene was supposed to be towards the end. It explains why the last episode was cut up so weirdly in editing. If you're looking for it, you can feel where the missing scenes is supposed to be and once you know what that scene is...
UUUGHH. Why would they tell us about this scene and then never bring it up again?!
Basically, when you hear people say "Release the Diab Cut!" they are talking about wanting to see this scene and putting it back into the show as Director Mohamed Diab had intended.