rule #1

[scaler]

[Molly has found the journal.

'Calm' is not a good word for it. Neither is 'relaxed,' or 'adjusted,' or 'accepting,' but she is very good at putting on all four. Keeping her head is what keeps her alive.

She's gotten acquainted with the important bits: the magic, the wishes, the losses, the indefinite stay, the familiar faces. Also the really important bit: walkers. That is, lack thereof. Allegedly.

None of it seems real -- but then, options are limited.

She presses a crease into the corner of the journal's page with her thumbnail. The first thing it picks up is a mutter half to herself.]

Feet first, I guess.

[Then, louder:]

So, hey. Ain't I supposed to get a gift basket? That's what luxury places like this do, right? What kind of welcome wagon is this?

Comments

[threeweeksago]

... NASA?

[Oh goddamnit is this some pre-Infection thing...]

[scaler]

[There's a pause while she frowns at the journal, confused -- and then she realizes. 20 years.

Shit. That's what's waiting for them. If they can last that long.

Her tone stays light.]

Cut off from the martians, huh? Makes sense, I guess. Not like we've talked to them since everything went to hell.

[HOW FAR CAN SHE PUSH THIS....]

[threeweeksago]

[Wha]

What the fuck are you talking about?

[scaler]

NASA? The martians? They didn't pass any of that down at all?

[threeweeksago]

[OH SHE SEES HOW IT IS NOW]

You're totally fucking with me.

[scaler]

[PLAY IT COOL....]

Nah, I'm just saying. It was a pretty big deal when it happened, but I guess you gotta pick and choose what's "big" enough after the world ends.

[threeweeksago]

Bullshit. If something like that really happened, not even the end of the world would be able to shut people up!

[scaler]

Don't know what to tell you, kid.

[There's an edge of amusement in her voice.]

[threeweeksago]

You can just tell me that you are fucking with me because that is seriously not cool!

[IT'S NOT HER FAULT THEY DON'T BOTHER TEACHING THIS SHIT IN POST-APOCALYPTIC MILITARY SCHOOLS >:T]

[scaler]

[There's a long pause.....








.... and she laughs.]

Yeah, okay, you got me.

NASA really was a space thing, though. Just never got past the moon.

[By her timeline, anyway.]

[threeweeksago]

[AHA, SHE KNEW IT. She grumbles for a bit, but... damn, she can't stay mad after hearing that.]

The moon? Seriously? That is fucking awesome.

[scaler]

Guess so. [She never really gave it that much thought before. It was always just something she learned in school.] It happened a long time ago, 1960s. We never really did anything up there, just tests and stuff.

[threeweeksago]

Still. Going up there, to a place totally different from what we know... must've been fucking amazing, no matter what the people up there were doing. I can't even imagine what that was like.

[scaler]

[That's... something. To be so earnest about possibilities when the only world you've ever known has long since gone to shit.

It makes sense, in a way.]

Gravity's lower there, so you had to bounce to get around. That's the only part that stuck with me after I saw the tape.

[threeweeksago]

[Ellie lets out a laugh, almost a giggle, because holy shit that mental image...]

Aw man, that must have been fucking hilarious to watch. Kinda cool in a way, but mostly hilarious.

[scaler]

-- Yeah.

[It gets abruptly uncomfortable, the reminiscing. It's strange to think of herself that young.]

That was it, though. The rest of it was just... dirt and rocks.

[threeweeksago]

... Guess that must've been really disappointing for the people who were expecting to see aliens or some shit like that.

[scaler]

No idea what people were expecting, honestly. I bet they were surprised it even worked.