i saw that mountain burn or was it in my head | closed

Nick grumbled something underneath his breath, though his unlaced his boots and kicked them off, picking the both of them up to shake. He met eyes with the woman as he did so, eyebrow raising slightly. "Happy? Nothin' in 'em." He watched as her partner basically fucked his entire vehicle up, teeth sinking into his lower lip as the man returned from doing his damage. If Nick really wanted to, he could've kicked the shit out of the dude in eighteen different ways, and it was taking every bone in his body not to. Not if he wanted to leave the city. "I already said I was trying to leave. I would've been gone and done with the both of you if it hadn't been for your friend fucking up my only form of transportation."

Reese just sort of stretched out on the back seat, legs crossed over each other as she watched everything that happened, not bothering to get out and try to interact. The last thing she needed was Max to bitch at her again. So she stayed put.

"So let's skip all the arguing and agree that I'll travel with you all and we can get that girl where she needs to go," Nick reasoned calmly, arms crossing as he eyed the both of them, "I looked at some files yesterday morning and talked with a sergeant about her. They believe she could be the cure to cordyceps. If I can help get her to wherever she needs to go so we can end all of this, then I'll help."

Cat rolled her eyes when the man grumbled something, not at all impressed by his attitude. She lifted her brows in reply, resisting the urge to roll her eyes again. "Absolutely ecstatic, babe," she retorted, sarcasm clear in her tone. She caught the look the soldier shot at Max, smirking a little - this guy obviously thought he could take the both of them, something Cat would rather enjoy proving to be false. She knew she looked like a scrawny piece of shit, and Caleb looked like some musclebound pinhead, but that wasn't the case. To underestimate the pair would be a big mistake on the soldier's part.

Cataleya lifted her brows as the man spoke, not entirely sure how much of his story she should buy. "Get the zip ties," Cat said, glancing to Max. The large man nodded, heading over to the jeep, pulling open the driver's side door. He leant in, rooting around for a minute, finding what he wanted in his jacket pocket, returning to Cat. Cataleya took the pair of zip ties from her partner, heading over to the man - Max brought his gun up to cover her.

"Nice and easy, handsome," she muttered, slipping behind him. She grabbed both his wrists, bringing them behind his back, fastening the zip ties around them, pulling the strips of heavy plastic tight so he'd have no hope of wriggling enough to get them off.

She gave him a gentle shove forward, and Max grabbed the guy by his bicep, dragging him over to the jeep. He pulled open the back door, shoving the blonde in as Cataleya collected up his belongings, slipping his army jacket on, deciding she might as well keep it now that she had it. Her jacket was on its last legs, so it was nice to get something newish - her last one had been a stolen military issue one, too.

"Start the jeep up, I'm gonna see whether there's anything worth taking from the other car," Cat told Max, who nodded, climbing into the driver's seat, starting it up as Cat slunk over to the abandoned jeep. She made quick work of it, stripping it of what little supplies and weapons were in it, heading back to Max and the others. She hauled herself in quick smart and Max hit the gas, pulling away from the scene fairly quickly.

Nick rolled his eyes at the woman's response, just observing how she and the other man interacted. When they began to zip tie his wrists together, Nick shook his head, but decided not to speak against it. It was better for him to be traveling with them while tied up opposed to being stuck out there completely defenseless, though he would've managed to get out of them sooner or later.

Reese groaned slightly as the soldier knocked into her, nodding at his soft apology as he wriggled in the back to get comfortable. She looked him up and down then returned her gaze out the window again, biting her bottom lip as Max started the jeep and pulled away.

"So what's he here for?" Reese asked, glancing over in Cat's direction, more willing to speak to her than to Max as of right now. "Protection?"

Cat settled comfortably in her seat, kicking her feet up onto the dashboard, stretching out her long, lean legs as Max drove, Cat's arms folding over her less than ample chest. She bit down on her lower lip, glancing back at Reese as she spoke, one brow lifting.

"You think he's here for protection? The guy's cuffed. He's currency - could be bait, if we really need it. We can probably trade him for something actually useful - so until then, he's gonna sit there and look pretty, an' behave himself too, if he wants to keep his kneecaps."

Max rolled his eyes a bit as Cat spoke, letting out a low snort - trust her to comment on something like that. She was terribly brazen, that Cataleya. It threw a lot of people off, so she used it to her advantage more often than not.

"So, sweetheart," Cataleya chimed, this time directing her words at the restrained soldier. "You got a name, or should I make one up for you?" She bit down on her lower lip, flashing him a grin when she looked back over her shoulder at him.

[short b/c phone]

Reese glanced over in the direction of the soldier, nodding slightly when he turned himself a bit to show her the ties on his wrist. She didn't really think tying him up was that necessary - he didn't seem like he'd hurt anyone, but hell, Reese didn't know anything about him, so she wasn't really in any sort of place to judge him properly. Once Cat began speaking to him, she kept her gaze on him, lip quirking up slightly as Cat asked for his name.

"Nick," he grumbled, "Feel free to be more creative if you please."

Yeah, so he was slightly crabby, the guy had a fucking right to be. He knew he wanted to escape the town but he would've liked doing it more if he had his hands free. Plus, the ties were too tight on his wrists, and in order to keep them from tugging against his skin, Nick had to keep his arms perfectly behind his back. So, all in all, he was pissed.

"Can I get names in return?"

Reese crossed her legs, shifting slightly to become a bit more comfortable in her seat. She wasn't sure if Cat and Max would reveal their names or not, so she decided to just say hers. It didn't even matter in the long run, to her, they were going to be stuck with each other for a while anyways.

"I'm Reese."

Cat smiled a little at the way the man grumbled his name, shrugging at his offer. "Don't tempt me, love," she retorted lightly, half turned in her seat so she could look back at the pair in the back.

"I'm Cat," she said with a shrug of one slim shoulder, before pointing her thumb at the man driving. "This is Maxxie," she grinned, letting out an amused noise at the grumble that hummed in Max's broad chest. That was often how Cataleya got her kicks - fucking with Max was a lifestyle she'd grown used to over the years, and it wasn't something she was about to stop now.

"It's Max," the large man in the driver's seat corrected, and Cataleya just grinned more, shooting him her grin before she looked back to the man - Nick, he'd called himself.

"So, Nicky," she said conversationally, tapping her fingers on her thigh, one eyebrow arched slightly. "Why're you deserting The Cause?" She asked, a slightly mocking tone to her voice when she mentioned the army.

Nick chuckled softly, glancing out of the window as Cat spoke, introducing herself and the man next to her. He didn't really pay much attention to the girl next to him shifting about, just watched the scenery flash by as they drove.

Cat's next question made him shrug, biting his lip as he turned to face her. "Because it's bullshit," he mumbled, "All of it's fucking bullshit."

Reese raised an eyebrow, eyes darting to look at Nick as he talked about the army. From what she had heard, it was them keeping food from the civilians and basically having buffets when no one was watching. But then again, those were just rumors, and she didn't know if it was all true.

"I tried to have them offer more food cards but I was shot down every single time," Nick grumbled, "They literally just don't care about the public. I-I was just done with all of it. Plus, there's nothing tying me down to the city. My parents died years ago and my brother and I aren't close."

Cataleya arched her eyebrows slightly as Nick began to explain himself - she swivelled better in her seat, wrapping an arm around the headrest, resting her chin on the seat as she watched the scruffy blonde. She cocked her head to one side.

"Ah, you're the friendly neighbourhood white knight, hmm?" She asked, and though she managed not to roll her eyes, the disdain was clear in her voice. "Lovely." She tapped her fingers absently against her other forearm, lower lip dragging between her teeth for an instant before she released it, eyes narrowed just a touch, as though measuring the blonde up.

"I guess we all have dead daddies - isn't that fun?" She chimed tonelessly, flicking her gaze towards Max briefly, who was frowning out the windscreen, large hands tight around the steering wheel. He had his daddy issues - so did Cat, honestly. They were quite the pair.

"So why didn't you leave sooner?" Cat pressed after a moment, her gaze returning to the soldier, one brow lifted. "It can't be all that difficult to just excuse yourself."

"We all have our shit, don't we? Even princess over here got tangled up in it," he said, motioning towards Charlotte, who just nonchalantly gave him the finger.

Nicholas watched as Cataleya as she sized him up, not speaking until her last question. "I thought I was doing something," he mumbled, "Sneaking food cards out and hiding people whenever they did curfew sweeps. I had to do something until I gave up on all of it." He carded a hand through his hair, tugging a knot or two out. "What about you two?" He asked, nodding his head towards Max. "You seem like quite the cute couple."

fuckin double

Cat's mouth curled a little at the way Nicholas addressed Reese, and she turned back to look at him.

"Her name is Reese," she said firmly, one eyebrow lifted slightly. As disrespectful as Cataleya was to the slight girl she wasn't about to let some jumped up soldier asshole do the same. The kid was her job, after all - and if there was anything in life that Cataleya appeared to take seriously, it was her job.

Max drums his fingers on the wheel, brow puckered a bit as he drives. He doesn't bother to add anything to the conversation - he's not very talkative, that Maxwell. So he just sits silent, thick brows pulled low over his eyes.

Cataleya couldn't help but snort at Nicholas' words, shaking her head. "Not in this fuckin' lifetime." She looked back at the blonde over her shoulder, one brow cocked delicately. "We smuggle things. Food, guns, whatever."