After guiding the group of people to the nearby apartment building Brynn and her brother had holed up their friends in, Brynn began questioning herself. That lead to her doubting herself. She ushered the last of the group up the stairwell and pointed to the door where they were going to stay for the time being. Tristan grabbed her sister's shoulder before she could walk any farther into the corridor.
"What are we doing," Tristan deadpanned after the last person entered the aforementioned door. "We don't owe these people anything. Regardless, how are we supposed to get there if we take these people under our wing?"
Brynn blinked. She didn't know either, which was why she was doubting herself in the first place.
"I don't know, Tris. We couldn't let them drive right into those other people. They obviously wouldn't give them a warm welcome. Either way, this is who we are: we're supposed to help people. We can't help it," Brynn exasperated, throwing her free hand out for effect. Tristan nodded solemnly with his gaze on the floor, knowing she was right. "We'll communicate to mom somehow. Now or later. But don't you think we should figure out what's going on? Especially with those soldiers down the street?"
Tristan finally looked up at his sister. They share the same nose and broad shoulders, but their hair was slightly a different colour as well as their eyes. Brynn is the oldest by less than a minute, but Tristan liked to pretend he knew what was best, even though he trusts Brynn with every decision she makes. Tristan's hand fell from his sister's shoulder and to her hand where he gave it a squeeze.
"I'll follow you through anything. You know that, right?" Tristan spoke softly, looking exhausted as he pulled his brows together. Brynn searched her brother's eyes and squeezed his hand back. She nodded. "Good. Now let's organize our shit with these peeps."
Brynn snorted and rolled her eyes before giving her brother a shove in the direction of the door. Tristan entered first, followed by Brynn. The group of eight people were either investigating the room, sitting on the couch, or looking out the window. The group quieted down a bit when they saw the siblings enter.
"You see 'em?" Tristan inquired to the guy standing in front of the window. He had short, dark brown hair, and a freckled face. His body was hunched at the shoulders, yet tense, and his hands were in his pockets. The room was quiet as they waited for the guy to answer. He didn't. Brynn got the urge to reiterate aggressively to the guy, but alas she was not in her military setting anymore and she was not his superior. "Do you?"
The girl beside him put a hand on his shoulder. The guy flinched and cast a frantic look at her. Brynn felt a sudden sympathy for him, he really wasn't doing good.
"Mark?" The girl whispered to him, which finally caught his attention. Brynn took notice of her Boston accent. Her long, black hair was parted at the center and quite dishevelled. She wore a hoodie and skinny jeans, both looking crinkled.
"Huh?" Mark came to the present, looking at the girl then around the room. He realized all eyes were on him and a blush crept up to his ears. Mark removed his hands from his pockets and wiped his palms on his pants.
"Can you see them?" Tristan asked again, his eyes focused on the freckled guy. Mark looked confused and had a blank expression on his face.
"See who?" The guy remarked after a couple seconds. This caused the girl beside him to send a small shake of her head at Tristan. Tristan grabbed the gun with sights out of her sister's hand and headed to the window, which made the two move out of his way. Brynn's brother lined up the sniper with the window and aimed the sight down at the street at least three or four blocks. Because the siblings chose a building on the corner, it gave them a perfect vantage point to view the soldiers.
"Take a look." Tristan suggested, holding the sniper in place so the others could look if they wanted to. The black-haired girl was the first one to move towards it, although cautiously with steady eyes on Tristan, as she held the sides of her hair from her face. Her eyebrows shot up as she backed away, casting a glance at Brynn and Tristan, then the rest of her group. She made a remark about how "fucking weird" it was.
The soldiers wore hazmat suits, all light blue in color. They all held guns of some sort, which Brynn and Tristan could identify, that had suppressors on the ends. A couple tanks sat as if to be hidden behind the corners of buildings with their barrels pointing down the street on the left and right. Chain link fences had been put up around their perimeter, which the siblings didn't know just yet. Three makeshift tents stood prominently, as well as a few concrete road barriers on the street.
"Who are they?" The black-haired girl articulated as she stepped out of the way so more people could see. Only two of the black-haired girl's group took a look
"That's what we want to know." Brynn answered, taking another step into the room and folding her arms across her chest. "You guys saw the bombs too, right?"
A girl from the corner answered. She had dyed red hair, red-rimmed eyes, and wore a sweater two sizes too big. "There was two that landed in the same spot, like a minute apart." She sniffled after, wiping her nose on her sleeve. Tristan handed her a Kleenex box from a nearby coffee table, which she grabbed and used.
"I saw one drop south," Alex explained, suddenly appearing in the doorway with his jaw still bruised a light purple. His blue hair lies flat on his forehead and his long-sleeved shirt was wrinkled. Alex scratched the back of his neck at the sight of everyone's eyes on him. Behind him were Nathan and Nadeen, who looked with wide eyes at the group of eight new people. Alex motioned to Brynn and Tristan before continuing, "These two saw it drop North. You guys saw two drop in the same spot? Where'd you come from?"
"Salem," The black-haired girl answered, putting a gentle hand on Mark's shoulder. "So, farther North. We've been driving on and off for a few days... I'm Lilly, by the way."
Brynn gave her a small head nod and offered a tiny smile. Brynn's mind was clouded with worries about the soldiers not too far away. She thought of her mom, and about their plan to contact her. Alex, Nadeen, Nathan, her brother, and herself had thought up a vague plan after setting up in this apartment complex; although, they had reached a stump in the plan.
"I'm Alex," Alex introduced and stepped forward. Lilly instinctively took a step back from him, before realizing Alex's hand was outstretched. Brynn gave a quiet chuckle at the sight of Lilly blushing and shaking Alex's hand. It was a sight she hadn't seen in quite a while, people having normal reactions to first introductions. Alex motioned behind him at the other siblings while leaning on the wall beside them, "This is Nadeen and Nathan, sister and brother."
Nadeen gave a shy wave to the group and moved into the room, leaning gently against the wall. Nadeen had put her thick, black curls in a puff at the top of her head. Her brother followed her with a wave as well. The soft-spoken siblings were obviously trying to shrink themselves from everyone's eyes.
Everyone around the room uniformly said their names, while Brynn tried to remember them all. Brynn could tell her brother was not listening as he peered through his scope again, closing one eye.
"So, what's the plan?" The young professor, now known as Mackenzie, asked from her seat on the kitchen counter. She wore a crinkled dress shirt and dress pants. Brynn had a flashing thought of how cute she was, but just as quickly as the thought came, it also vanished. Alex shared a look with Brynn, who looked to Nadeen, who looked to Nathan, who finally looked back at Brynn. Mackenzie shifted her weight on the counter, awaiting an answer. Brynn gave a quiet sigh and left the room.
"We were trying to find the nearest radio station..." Alex trailed off, pushing off the wall he had leaned on and joining Tristan by the window. Alex gave a nod to Mark, who barely noticed, then nodded back a second later. Mark took his hands out of his pockets again, one of them clenched.
"Good idea," Mackenzie remarked, sliding off the counter. "I used to live here a few years ago. I'm pretty sure there's actually one nearby."
"Oh, we know," Brynn confirmed, re-entering the room with her black pullover hoodie now on. She adjusted the ties on the hood and crouched down to tie her shoe.
"Isn't it close? Where is it then?" The girl with dyed red hair from the corner chimed in with her sweater pulled over her palms. Brynn thinks her name might be Cathryn. Tristan finally stepped away from the window with the sniper in his hands. He pointed a solid finger in the direction of the soldiers.
"Right there." Tristan stated, his gaze directly on the radio station that stood in the center of the soldiers' working area.
Cathryn stood, sniffling away her tears.
"Well then?" She asserted, as if she was saying something obvious. Her light blue sleeves were darkened by her tears. "Let's go ask them to help us."
"Are you dumb? Or just stupid?" Nadeen spoke up before Tristan could. Brynn sat on the kitchen counter behind her, a few feet away from the young professor. She had a feeling Nadeen was a girl who stood up for what she knew and believed in without question. Brynn suppressed a small smirk, feeling inspiration as she listened to Nadeen. Cathryn looked perplexed at Nadeen, but the curly-headed girl continued before Cathryn could start again. "Not only do they have tanks, and weapons, but those are the same assholes who killed both my parents."