Chapter 5: Into the Void (Ray, Nat, Julie)

[evil_scientist]

Ray gives Julie a bewildered, glassy-eyed stare. He is trying to process something... It takes him a good 10 seconds to finally gather himself and be able to speak or act.

The incomprehensible chanting on the other side of the curtain continues.

There is also a weird smell: like hot tar, heavy and acrid, but utterly alien.

[aine]

Nat takes a peek through the hanger doors, "You guys okay?" He whispers, into the dark. "What's that weird smell?"

[Mr. Handy]

Julie shrugs again. "I'm fine," she whispers. "It smells like hot tar, but it's different."

[Cotton]

Ray shakes his head and points back at the spot he had had Nat wait at before, and makes a "follow me" motion as he moves over there. Once away from the barn (assuming the other two follow him) he whispers, "We... The rock is a no go, and Julie you can't stay here any longer. We have to get Elizabeth out of here tonight."

[Mr. Handy]

Julie follows Ray back to where Nat is waiting. "Okay," she says, more relieved than anything. "What are they doing? What did you see in there?"

[aine]

"Did you get a sample for the Doc?" Nat also asks Ray. "Did you see Elizabeth in there?"

[Cotton]

Ray shakes his head again. ”We’re not going to be able to get a sample, I don’t think. I didn’t see her, and we shouldn’t go back in there.”

[aine]

"You sure? I don't mind having a go - I can be pretty quick." But Nat senses rather than sees the look on Ray's face. "Whatever you say, Boss. So do we find Elizabeth and get out of here? Do you know where she is, Julie?"

[Mr. Handy]

"You mean she wasn't in there?" asks Julie. "She hadn't wanted to miss...whatever it is they're doing. I'm just as glad if she's not in there. I know where her bedroom is." She gives them directions. "I should go ahead of you, talk to her before she sees you if she's there."

[evil_scientist]

Ray,Ray was overwhelmed by what he saw in there, and couldn't pick out Elizabeth from the group. For him, the worshipers seemed like a single mass. Elizabeth can be in there, but he is just not sure.

[aine]

"Okay, sounds like a plan. Although I'll hang back a bit and listen out in case they finish up inside the hanger." says Nat. "I just hope you can persuade her to leave though."

[evil_scientist]

Julie and Ray,[b]Julie[/b] leads [b]Ray[/b] over to the smaller house on the West side of the compound. The darkness in the desert is all-pervasive, and soon they loose sight of Nat, who remains standing next to the hangar building. The building has a small enclosed porch before it. It is full of junk: old boxes, dusty crates. Ray almost trips over a broken bicycle. Inside the house, it's musty and stale. The front door leads to a narrow corridor, with doors on both sides. Julie opens the first door to the right - the place where she and Elizabeth slept an hour ago. In the darkness, Ray can discern that the room is void of furnishings. There are just two mattresses on the floor, and a couple of cardboard boxes. Elizabeth is not around. She is either someplace else, or Ray didn't spot her in the hangar.

Nat,Ray and Julie head towards the western part of the compound and disappear into the darkness. Nat stays next to the hangar's door, and listen attentively to the sounds emanating from the inside. After a minute or so he notices that the collective humming starts to diminish. One by one voices are getting "disconnected" from it, then fade into silence. The lead voice, the chanting of Cavendish, still holds, but instead of the flow of almost random syllables, he is now just repeating one: something between a choking cough and a throaty noise: [i]"kh! kh! kh!"[/i] Nat has a weird sensation... Is the ground rumbling under his feet? Just slightly? Like in the case of a distant or weak earthquake?

[aine]

Spoiler,"Jeez, I hope it's just them dancing," Nat thinks to himself worriedly as he feels slight tremors through his soles. He concentrates hard on the New sound, trying to identify it. "What the hell is going on in there? "

[Mr. Handy]

"I guess we'd better head back down and rejoin Nat," says Julie. "That hangar's the only other place she's likely to be. Is it possible she was in there and you just didn't see her?"

[Cotton]

Ray grimaces thinking back to what he saw. ”It’s is. If that’s the case I think we’ll just hav to wait until they’re... done. Do you think that after they leave the barn, you could get her alone? Near a spot Nat and I would be hiding?”

[Mr. Handy]

"She'll probably come right back here to her bed," says Julie. "I can lie down and pretend to be asleep, and then pretend to wake up when she arrives. You two could hide nearby somewhere."

[evil_scientist]

Julie and Ray sneak back to the hangar, where Nat is still on watch.

As they get closer to the hangar, they feel the ground rumbling under their feet. A slight tremor - like a distant earthquake, or a truck passing nearby?

Inside the hangar, the chorus of voices diminished. The lead voice, the chanting of Cavendish, still holds, but instead of the flow of almost random syllables, he is now just repeating one: something between a choking cough and a throaty noise: "kh! kh! kh!"



Julie and Ray quickly share their plan with Nat.

They need to come up quickly with a meeting point, if they go along with this plan; and also decide at which point they are bringing in Tobias.

Key,[list=1][*]Not a proper building, just a tin roof on rows of posts. There is some old farming equipment (ploughs etc.), and crates covered with tarps. [*]A single-storey house, made of pre-fab elements. There is a narrow enclosed porch with windows and a door facing the center of the compound. It has a hinged roof, with a small window on the short side: it probably has a small attic. This is where Elizabeth sleeps. [*]Outhouse. [*]A single-story brick house, with an open porch along the long side facing the center. It looks like the oldest building in the place. Two windows on the left side of the front wall are boarded up. [*]The newly- built hangar or barn. It's entrance (a double gate, currently closed) is facing the center of the compound. The place of the community's "meditation sessions". [*]In this area, the earth is ploughed, and there are some things planted - tomatoes and the like. It's all haphazardly worked. [*]A rusty trailer, a leftover from the 1950s, propped up with bricks. The pink paint is peeling of the side. Adjacent to the trailer, a tarp is stretched out to provide shade.[/list] North is up.

[Mr. Handy]

"If things go south," says Julie, "they'll be expecting us to leave by the main gate. What about that hole in the fence you found, Nat? Could we all fit through it? If so, we can meet there if we have to split up. What is going on in there? Can we afford to wait until whatever it is is over?"

[aine]

"The only trouble with the hole is its the opposite side to Tobias. We had planned to leave by the gate and Tobias could pick us up in the car." He leans near Julie's chest, "Tobias you still with us? May have a change of plan, hang on a sec. Boss, what do you reckon? We should be able to hide behind that far shack (1) and wait for them. Or I could run back to the car for wire cutters to make a hole behind the shack while you wait for Elizabeth."

[Cotton]

"I think we try the second one," says Ray. "There'll be places for me to hide in the shack, and I'm sure Julie and I will be able to get ahold of Elizabeth. Nat once you see Julie lead Elizabeth to me you'll have to work fast, and make sure Tobias is nearby with the car ready."