~August 29th, 2020~

Crystal waited out in the fierce rain, shuddering from the cold and squirming around from under the tree impatiently as they waited for Sabre and their companion to return.

What was a few minutes of waiting out in the rain seemed like ages as they gently rubbed their arms, persistently trying to warm themselves up from the cold. Sabre poked their head out of the base, both Crystal and Sabre's friend perking up to see what the healer had to say.

"It's safe in here and our roommate appears to be 100% human!" Sabre called out at the two. Crystal and Feather swiftly rushing into the base entrance, careful to not trip.

Roommate? Crystal wondered as they cautiously entered the structure. They studied their supposed 'roommate' and now Crystal figured out why the base had looked so familiar. Gah! Well, isn't this just great?
———————

Compass looked for another exit to avoid getting harmed by the newcomer that wielded a knife. Compass looked at the stranger, they looked at Compass, shocked to see her, Compass was just as surprised. The newcomer cautiously lowered their weapon, trying to show the delta that they were no threat.

Their face spread into a kind non-hostile smile, "Mind if my droopy friends and I bunk down with you? I'll repay you with food for your hospitality." The newcomer offered sweetly.

Compass looked up at the taller figure, still a bit wary and suspicious. "...you've got food?" She finally spoke up, a bit baffled by the fact that this stranger, who came out of nowhere, would voluntarily offer food. One of the scarcest things to find these days. The newcomer nodded, fishing a pop tart out of their pocket and breaking it in two, giving Compass one half.

The delta accepted, waving their hand in dismissal, willingly letting the newcomer and their friends in. The stranger poked their head out of the base, yelling a few muffled words that Compass couldn't fully hear. She scooted away a bit to make more room for the two other figures that entered the base. One of them familiar, the other one not. Without having to worry about being stabbed by the stranger, Compass finally took the time to look at them.

They were taller than Compass and had brown eyes and brown hair that was darkened due to the rain. They wore a damp baseball cap and a black jacket that covered their soaking gray t-shirt. With it, they also wore some dark-colored sweatpants.

One of their companions was unfamiliar, they had brown hair as well, longer than their friends, however. Their kind face was speckled with a few freckles and they had blue eyes and light-toned skin. They wore a mint green sweater, ripped jeans, and a small necklace that lay against their neck that was still wet from their time in the rain. They gave a nervous but friendly wave. Compass cracked a smile.

The last person who seemed to be in the severest condition entered the base. Compass easily identified them as Crystal. The two high ranks didn't see happy to see one another. Compass decided to ignore the lead hunter, for now, still upset about Crystal's attitude during their hunt for food and water. The newcomer that Compass had just talked to sat down, looking at the delta.

"So, who are you?." Compass asked, observing one of the others pass Crystal the second half of the pop tart, to Compass' dismay. The delta didn't say anything to Crystal, however, turning to the unfamiliar newcomers.

The younger one of the two spoke up first, "My name is Feather, I-i'm a BA healer. And what is your name?" Feather introduced herself, fiddling with the sleeves of the mint green sweater. Feather was a healer of BA, known well for relocating bones efficiently and being one of the kindest members in the pack. Feather was taking a vacation near Colorado at the time before ITEV struck, her parents ordered her away to go with Sabre, who had run into Feather and her family whilst on their journey to meet up with BA. Due to her parents getting sick with an unknown virus, unwilling to risk the chances of passing it down somehow to their daughter.

Compass leapt forward and enveloped Feather in a hug, Feather was surprised but didn't hesitate to hug back. Even though the two were still soaked from the violent rain, which had finally stopped outside.

"I'm Compass." Compass explained, Feather gave a broad smile, happy to see the delta. The other newcomer spoke up.

"Should've guessed. So this is Colorado? Been traveling for weeks or has it been months? I'm from Long Island, the land of coffee and bagels." The still-unidentified newcomer grinned triumphantly, laying back a bit and relaxing as if they owned the place. Compass furrowed her brows, properly trying to figure out who this person was. Crystal watched the conversation go down, tapping their leg impatiently, and waiting to capture Compass' attention.

Compass continued to try and identify the other newcomer. "I still haven't caught your name yet." She stated. The newcomer grinned.

"Aw c'mon Compass. A wise delta like you should be able to guess who I am." They teased gently with a wide smirk. Compass gave a small huff, but not in annoyance, more in amusement.

Compass analyzed them again, "Rosia." The delta incorrectly guessed.

They laughed and shook their head in fake disappointment. "Nope, Well, then I guess we'll just have to wait until one of the pack members recognize me." They teased. Compass grinned, sitting back and shrugging a bit. "Rosia is a lot nicer than me. I'd also describe myself as wise, not kind." They admitted.

"I'm a bit tired at the moment to guess right now." The delta admitted with a laugh, looking outside and at the blue sky that was slowly being uncovered as the storm clouds passed by.

The stranger laughed, scratching the back of their neck a bit. "I'm worn out myself so I might as well tell you my identity before you throttle me. I'm Sabre." Sabre shook Compass's hand. Compass smiled at the BA healer.

"Uh..hello?" A familiar voice piped up.

Compass turned, looking at Crystal, who was the one who just spoke. "Can I help you?" Compass asked, undoubtedly not wanting to put up nor even talk to Crystal. The lead hunter crossed their arms.

"Why are you ignoring me?" They questioned with a frown. Compass narrowed her eyes.

"Because you want to make this terrible situation seem more hopeless and I'd rather not hear about how we all should give up according to you." The delta shot back instantly.

Crystal huffed, "I never said that we should give up." The lead hunter muttered loud enough for Compass to hear. Compass resorted back to ignoring her packmate, watching the now clear blue sky.

All three of them unaware of the buzz of a notification that undoubtedly came from Compass' phone.

———————

Maxie stirred a bit, stinging pain shooting up him. He waited for the pain out as it ceased and disappeared, he pushed himself up onto his legs. The delta looked around, only to see the walls of the muddy ditch that he and Okame had fallen into. He looked down near us legs where Okame was also sleeping. Both he and Maxie were covered in dried mud that crusted their clothes uncomfortably. Maxie stroked the back of his neck, it stinging a bit from being sore. Whatever had struck him, hit him hard. His neck and head were covered messily with gauze and medical tape, something that Okame would constantly carry around.

Maxie heaved his upper body over the dip of the ditch, looking out in the distance. He couldn't spot any sight of the Abandoned Town surprisingly. The boy looked around more, his gaze resting on an old abandoned convenience store.

He nudged Okame awake, "Okame-" he shook the alphabeta. Okame shifted a bit, opening his eyes groggily and using his hand to block the sun out of his view.

"Hey, Broski." Okame greeted, the boy still tired and sore. "You okay? A branch hit you harshly on your neck, I got worried when I saw you drop, your bandages good?" Okame sat up. Maxie grinned.

"I'm a little sore." He admitted, "but I'll be fine, how about you?" He asked. Okame smiled back, giving a slight shrug.

"I could be better but hey; we are still together, eh? Things could have gotten a whole lot worse. I just hope that the others are okay." Okame stood up a bit, leaning on the side of the ditch as he pulled out his phone. He looked back at Maxie, "no reception." He frowned. "Check your phone? Is it good?" The alphabeta asked, uneasily watching his friend pull out his phone.

"Darn." Maxie gave a grimace, "broken." He explained, frantically trying to turn on his phone, only to receive the same blank screen. "I must have broken it when I fell." The delta inferred with a sigh. He fondly recalled the convenience store, "well...there's a store nearby; we could see if it has anything we could use.." Maxie told his friend, who nodded approvingly with a delighted grin.

"Sounds good to me!" He chirped, the two emitting a grunt as they left the ditch with sore bodies. The two made their way towards the abandoned convenience store. They entered it. The tiles slippery with water from the previous rainstorm, they both looked around at the shelves which were decently bare. Maxie instantly looked under the empty cash register.

"Bingo!" He said in a singsong tone, recovering a small bag of hot Cheetos, cracking it open and popping a few in his mouth.

"Check this out, Maxie!" Okame called, noticeably excited. Maxie walked over to his friend, who was stripping his filthy and soiled clothes off himself. Next to him were some old outfits, a bit damp from the rainfall, but much cleaner than the current clothes Maxie and Okame were wearing.

The two stripped down to their boxers.

"Nice underwear, broski," Okame gently teased, browsing through the few outfits he could wear.

Maxie snorted in genuine amusement and smirked, "thanks, Broski. You got some pretty peng underwear if I do say so myself." He shot back.

Okame gave a bark of laughter as he picked out his outfit. Maxie found a long-sleeved t-shirt that fit him, he put it on and topped it off with a navy blue vest that complimented his skin tone, he continued to outfit himself with some pants, debating between a tan pair of shorts and some black sweatpants. The delta settled with the black sweatpants and waited for Okame to finish up.

Okame picked out a dark red jacket, under it, he wore a black t-shirt and on his legs were some gray loose jeans, he quickly fitted on some brown shoes and pulled out his old 'Martial Arts' beanie from the karate school he used to teach at.

"Sexy." Maxie whistled teasingly, earning a snicker from the alphabeta, the two exited the store after searching it. Finding two water bottles only. The two noted the store's location, in case if they needed to return one day. Maxie eyed Okame's beanie. "Do you really just carry that around with you all the time?" He questioned, amused.

Okame nodded, "sure do." He grinned as he repaired Maxie's phone to the best of his ability, charging it a bit. "Alright, we should really contact the others about our discovery about ITEV's associations with animals and water. Except I don't have any reception here and without it, it may take a bit to find our way back home and we could risk getting lost. On the plus side, the sooner we warn them, the better." The alphabeta went on. He looked outside of the abandoned building.

"I'm pretty sure you can see better than me, broski. Can you see any trees out there?" Okame asked, Maxie, peered at the direction Okame was looking at.

"Nope." He simply responded.

Okame nodded, "if we go that direction I'm pretty sure we are bound to hit some sort of ...wind turbine perhaps." He correctly inferred. Maxie grinned.

"Sounds reasonable to me." He chirped with a grin, checking back at his charging phone which had charged to a reasonable amount of battery. Maxie shoved the charger in his sweat-pant pockets along with his phone.

"Welp! Off we go!" Okame smiled, bouncing around despite being sore. Maxie followed the alphabeta. "Let's just hope that there actually is some sort of power plant." Okame continued eagerly to walk leisurely by Maxie's side. The delta thought for a bit.

"And what do we do if there isn't?"

———————

By the end of the thunderstorm, Melon had managed to calm down, returning to her usual self. She continued to hold her water bottle in her hand. Geo and MaL still not coming up or finding anything handy or unique. MaL continued to look out the window, the thought of an odd presence tugged at her nerves, giving the lead healer chills.

Melon continued to hum the rhythm of the song that she was listening to, browsing through everything, only to find shards of shattered glass, rusty unneeded objects, and dust. Both of the high ranks checked back at their phones constantly, waiting for a response from either Compass, Maxie, or Crystal. Nothing. The two shared a troubled frown.

Geo rushed over to the window, seeing the sunny blue sky. "We can see clearly now the rain has gone!" They sung, running outside and waving their hands around in the air. Melon laughed and so did MaL, promptly following the younger member outside in a more calm matter. There was still no sign of their other BA packmates.

"I hope they're okay." Melon commented anxiously, walking over to MaL, who was merely checking her phone once again.

MaL nodded, "Yeah, me too..." the lead healer trailed off. Geo waved their hand towards the two higher ranks.

"Don't worry about them. They'll be fineeeeee." Geo trailed off with a grin, too happy about being able to exit the eerie abandoned antique store and being out in the sun to think about what troubles their friends could possibly get into. MaL and Melon looked pensively at the warrior.

"Geo, they aren't anywhere near here and they haven't responded to any of our texts." MaL pointed out, Geo stopped joyfully celebrating.

"Oh...Well, that's a problem...whoever comes after my friends I will fight you! Okame, Maxie, Crystal, Compass where are you!" The warrior yelled out suddenly. No BA member or mighty foe showed up in front of the trio. MaL gave a sigh, looking back down at her phone, Melon watching the device to check if there was any incoming text from her friends. Still nothing new.

Melon looked to the side, instantly noticing some weird tracks that were muddy from the rainstorm. She crouched down next to them, carefully analyzing them. They seemed to be made by boots. MaL still had the thought of possibly a strange shadow passing by. At the time of the violent thunderstorm, she had turned away from the shattered window. But she could confirm something was there...by the time she turned back, it was gone.

The terrible thought sent chills down her spine, the sight of footprints gave her an uneasy feeling in her nervous stomach, the lead healer pushed it away. Geo went over to the footprints, "gimme your phone, I wanna take a picture." He told Melon, she handed the warrior her phone, Geo quickly snapping a picture of the food prints.

MaL noticed a different set of tracks, once again from a pair of muddy shoes. She looked at the other tracks as her concerned friends were occupied with the boot tracks. MaL gave a perplexed frown.

"I don't know who's these are...but we should be on high alert."