Michaels prelude: Communion

[Bitom]

Michael and Mikey make it across the bridge and spend the rest of the day looting Wichita without seeing another soul, before he knows it, Michael finds himself needing to find a place to stay for the night again.

OOC

Go ahead and finish off your shopping list, along with blankets, pillows, or whatever for Mikey. There's no shortage of these things. You don't find another horse, though.

[EvilMonkey]

OOC

It's ok that I haven't found another horse, Macguyver isn't my patron saint for nothing )

Michael finishes loading all the gear on to Jonah's back, the great beast giving a snort to voice it's displeasure. "Oh hush, we'll figure somethin' out tomorra'. He then sets about trying to find a suitable place to "camp" for the night. Searching around for a large park so Jonah can graze...

[Bitom]

Riverside park is the largest, but it would require going back across the bridge, so Michael elects for the much smaller Murdock park, instead.

[EvilMonkey]

Upon reaching the park Michael immediately sets to work. He scouts out someplace relatively hidden and begins off-loading camping equipment from Jonah's back. He helps Mikey get off the horse and hopes he'll come around a little bit once he has a decent meal. He sets up the tent, and turns it into a miniature home fit for himself and lil' Mikey. The limited space within is soon filled with the pair's sleeping bags, rucksacks, a lantern and assorted odds and ends, as well as Jonah's saddle.

He turns to Mikey when he is finished; "Well, it ain't much kid, but for a little while, this is home. Why don't you go on in and get settled while I finish working alright?" he says to the eerily silent child as he holds the flap open so the child can climb inside, trying his best to manage a smile to try to lift the kid's spirit. Then he sets to work on the outside portion of the camp. He covers the tent with the camoflague tarp and builds a small fire pit, he digs a small latrine pit a few yards away and sets up the site for a semi extended stay.

Finally after everything is set up he goes inside the tent. "Hey Mikey, I need a strong little buddy to help me out why don't you come here?"

OOC

Enter the father figure

[Bitom]

The kid comes out of the tent, still being remarkably quiet, but otherwise responding normally to Michael's request.

[EvilMonkey]

"C'mon little guy, we need to get some firewood if we want to eat, as much as we can carry, so search around for all the sticks and branches and big pieces of wood you can." Michael tries to get the child to open up while they are out collecting the firewood, telling funny stories, complimenting him on how much wood he can carry, but seemingly to no avail. Finally when they have gathered a sizeable pile, Michael sets to work building a fire and cooking up a decent meal for the young boy and himself. Some brown rice, and a sort of homemade chili using beans canned tomatoes, and jerky as well as some other assorted foodstuffs and spices. Michael lets out a small laugh at how the child seemingly eats just like he does, wolfing down the food seemingly without tasting it but noticably savoring every bite of the real meal.

When dinner is finished Michael sets to work he brings out his guns, unloads them, and begins to clean and do simple maintenance. He starts telling little Mikey all about how they work, what parts do what, laying down basic safety, the works trying to pass on everything he knows to the young mind. He knows that should something happen to him this child deserves to be prepared to survive at least long enough to make it to some form of civilazation... should one exist.

[Bitom]

The kid seems to be listening but still doesn't speak, which is starting to get spooky. This sets the pattern for the next couple of days. Mikey doesn't speak at all, but otherwise acts just like a normal kid as the pair wander Northeast, through Topeka and on to Kansas City.

In a park in Kansas city, Michael wakes in the middle of the night, hearing a child's voice outside the tent.

"...I don't get it."

[EvilMonkey]

Michael cracks a bleary eye, looking over and noticing a lack of little Mikey inside the tent he realizes that whatever he just heard isn't a dream. The flap is left open and moves gently in and out with the night breeze. Not knowing what to expect he grabs the pistol from right next to him and crawls out of the tent looking for Mikey.

OOC

my spider sense is tingling, either that or theres another horsefly between my buttcheeks...

[Bitom]

Michael exits the tent to see Mikey standing in front of another of the giant black carrion birds. It looks at him with what seems like intelligence and hate, then quickly and deliberately pecks the boy before launching into flight. Michael gets one shot off, but can't tell if he hit the bird or not in the darkness. Whatever happened, he did not kill it, and it's gone beyond the firelight and out of sight.

[EvilMonkey]

"Dammit, I missed." He lets the pistol drop down to his side as he watches the bird fly into the darkness. "Mikey, are you ok? What happened?" Michael stands beside the young boy hoping to get an answer...

OOC

this does not bode well