Margrethe Vidardottir's Story

Margrethe's head turned at the sound of birds in flight. They were taking a prolonged rest in an old street– her wife on the overgrown hood of a car where the moss created a comfortable seat. In her hands she held a small book, reading while enjoying the breeze.

"Did you hear that?" Margrethe turned again.

Violet sighed, flipping the page. "Calm your thirst," she said. "There's not a human left that would be dumb enough to call out for help."

"This is why you make an awful hunter."

"This," Violet replied with a slight raise of her head, "is why you keeping walking into traps. You've not yet learned that sometimes prey try to fight back."

Margrethe rolled her eyes. Testing her weight on a nearby tree, she wondered if she could climb to the top without it bending, but there was no point in making a fool of herself by trying. The bark was moist and slippery, and wouldn’t hold her for a second. She gazed into the general direction of where the birds had fled from, trying to guess where it came from. One of the buildings looked more put together than the others, even though it had large parts of its outer wall broken down. "I bet it's not far from here," she said. "That building, over there. You see it?"

"Mm."

"I think there's movement."

There was no reply. Violet was deeply absorbed in the book, worrying her lip as she read. She looked languid and weak in this light, poised against the downfall of civilisation in an unsuitable dress.

Margrethe felt a rush of affection, soon replaced with annoyance. "Are you listening to me?"

There was a long pause. Then: "Yes."

“Violet.”

Silence.

“Darling.”

She looked up. “What, sorry?”

“I would like to explore the possibility of getting some proper blood for a change. Are you interested?”

Her wife sighed. “If you insist,” she said, folding the book away into her bag. “But if it is a trap, I’m pushing you in first.”

Margrethe took her hand as she stood, giving a bright smile. “I shouldn’t expect any less from you. What is it that’s absorbing you so much, anyway?”

Violet shrugged. They began to walk down the path, and Margrethe felt lucky that they both had sturdy boots that wouldn’t get caught in the undergrowth. Like every other town they had been to, the plants were coming to reclaim their land. Only the few human settlements they’d stumbled into– and the occasional vampire lair– would have some semblance of modernity. It was hard to believe that less than a hundred years ago this had been a bustling metropolis, but then if time had taught her anything, it was that things were in constant change. They took small paths around large patches of water from the last rain, contrasting the cracking of a twig as Violet took a careless step.

Margrethe sighed. “Well, whatever it is, it’s probably running now,” she said.

“I’m sorry, my dear.”

“Not at all. I should have scouted ahead, I know you’re not one for stealth.”

“Shall we press on, all the same?”

She thought about it. “Can’t hurt. Perhaps it’s wounded and unable to run.”

Violet gave her hand a mild squeeze, and smiled.

Brandon had left the building in a blur, his feet barely touching the ground. He hadn’t had a meal since the bobcat he took down over at Pike Place Market near the ever rising waterfront. However, even a predator like a bobcat wasn’t something that could slate his thirst the way good old fashion human blood did. Upon exiting the building, he let his own predatory instincts kick in. His nose went into the air, searching frantically for a scent trail he could follow that could lead him to the crazy guy’s colony or tribe, but he wasn’t able to pick up on anything. Then he heard the birds go flying out of the trees overhead. It startled him slightly as he was normally fast and quiet enough not to disturb the wildlife. He froze in place as he heard the slight sound of voices far in the distance.
“Not at all. I should have scouted ahead; I know you’re not one for stealth.”
“Shall we press on, all the same?”
“Can’t hurt. Perhaps it’s wounded and unable to run.”
“Shit!” He whispered to himself. He knew they were vamps and looking for food like he was, but he couldn’t stand the thought of them catching the poor defenseless crazy guy that didn’t seem to even know where he was. Memories of visiting his brother in the institution, seeing the bruises on his arms even a black eye once, the pleading and begging to come home, all flashed before his eyes and a few tears ran down his cheek. He snapped back to reality with the sound of breaking twigs and rustling brush approaching.
Brandon took off running in the direction of the voices in the hopes that he could convince them that there was nothing worth hunting in that direction, or better, convince them that there was good prey in a different direction. Within a minute or two he got sight of the two female vamps and slowed down so as not to be mistaken for a predator. He walked up to the two of them, hands up in a nonthreatening gesture.
“Good afternoon, ladies. You appear to be on the hunt. I can assure you that there’s really nothing worth going after in that direction.” He smiled and pointed behind himself. “But if you would do me the pleasure of accompanying me, I can take you to a family of bears that go down to the waterfront to catch fish.” His smile then spread wide as he circled around the ladies in an attempt to lead them in the direction of the waterfront.

Margrethe paused. It was hardly a minute after Violet's unfortunate step when she noticed a sound not far away, approaching them. It was accompanied by the low-key smell of a vampire. She looked to her wife, who nodded.

"A young one," Violet said.

Margrethe shook her head and smiled. "How can you possibly know that?"

"Barely a century," she said. "Mark my words."

"Madwoman," Margrethe muttered, but she turned in the direction of the sound when it came close enough to see. The vampire was male, and did appear young though of course it was impossible to tell how old he truly was no matter what Violet claimed. He had his hands raised as he appeared.

"He's been crying," Violet whispered. "I can still smell the salt."

"Silence, dear," she replied.

“Good afternoon, ladies. You appear to be on the hunt. I can assure you that there’s really nothing worth going after in that direction.” The boy pointed behind himself.

The two women exchanged brief glances. Margrethe noticed a wicked gleam in Violet's eyes, and gave a short shake of her head. This was not the time to antagonise.

“But if you would do me the pleasure of accompanying me, I can take you to a family of bears that go down to the waterfront to catch fish.” He circled them with a wide smile on his face.

Margrethe raised an eyebrow. "The young sir is too kind," she said. "Pray, why ask for our company when the bears would feed one man for longer?"

Of course, she knew bears were rarely a picnic– even for vampires. Though their strength was heightened bears had praiseworthy survival instincts and a family could easily overpower one of them. That was, if the bears existed, and the boy didn't have some sort of secret human stash hidden away in the opposite direction.

It was at this moment that Brandon was glad he had been honest about the family of bears he had seen earlier that morning.
“Surely you’re aware that predator blood is among the sweetest and most prized for our kind. The dilemma lies in the fact that most predators are not so easy to take down and so the blood must be shared among those who help. Luckily, there were three of these bears by the water front and, if we take them down one at a time, there will be plenty of blood for the three of us.” He smiled convincingly and his increasing hunger added to the believability of his plea. “Of course I wouldn’t normally be so generous with my food, but I recently had a falling out with the group that turned me an arrogantly called themselves my family. We had a disagreement about the morals of feeding on the mentally ill. They are no longer an issue thanks to an axe and a bonfire, but now I’m without anyone to help me in my hunting. That is unless you fine ladies join me in my hunt. If not, I guess that’s just more bear for me.”
Brandon turned in the direction of the water front. He closed his eyes and let his sense of smell take over. He barely was able to catch the scent of the bear family and another predator slightly closer. He took in another deep breath and identified the scent as belonging to bobcat. “Ooo! By the smell of it there’s a kitty nearby as well.” He taunted. “So you ladies coming with, or am I dining alone?”

__________________________________________________________________________________

Jayce made his way down the dilapidated stairs of the office building, nearly falling through in some places due to wood rot and termites. He made it to the front door and was barely able to pushed it open with all his weight due to the rusted hinges. Now that he was out of the building, he had no idea where to go from there. He looked around but was barely able to recognize the street he was on due to the overgrowth of plant life. Luckily, he’d grown up in Seattle and knew the city well, or at least what the city used to be. He felt a slight breeze coming from the direction of the ocean he could swear he heard a whispered voice in it. He closed his eyes to concentrate. “Go to the playground.” The whisper spoke in his ear. He was sure he was going crazy, but nothing about this day seemed real so he just went with it. “The playground?” he thought for a second trying to figure out what that meant. Then it made sense, which scared him even more. “The one near the house I grew up in.” He walked along the remains of the sidewalk until he saw an old street sign he could read. “So I’m on fifth avenue, so I need to go North to get to Kerry Park.” He headed off in the direction of the Space Needle and he knew that the park wasn’t much farther, unfortunately, it was going to be mostly uphill in an area he could barely recognize.

“Surely you’re aware that predator blood is among the sweetest and most prized for our kind. The dilemma lies in the fact that most predators are not so easy to take down and so the blood must be shared among those who help. Luckily, there were three of these bears by the water front and, if we take them down one at a time, there will be plenty of blood for the three of us.”

Margrethe smiled gently. "Yes, we are aware. The young sir mustn't take my query too much to heart– these are dangerous, untrustworthy times we live in."

She had taken in step in front of Violet to prevent Brandon a direct line of access. Now she seemed to relax, no longer paying attention to where Violet was moving.

“Of course I wouldn’t normally be so generous with my food, but I recently had a falling out with the group that turned me an arrogantly called themselves my family. We had a disagreement about the morals of feeding on the mentally ill. They are no longer an issue thanks to an axe and a bonfire, but now I’m without anyone to help me in my hunting. That is unless you fine ladies join me in my hunt. If not, I guess that’s just more bear for me.”

At the mention of the mentally ill, Margrethe's eyes flickered to her wife. Though Violet was mostly high-functioning, her memory problems had begun to take a toll on them both. Their entire reason for travelling to Seattle was to follow a hunch on Violet's part– hoping to find a cure for the illness that was plaguing her mind. Hopefully this ally meant to say that his morals was above such things, and that Margrethe wouldn't have to worry about Violet's safety.

The boy had turned towards the waterfront. “Ooo! By the smell of it there’s a kitty nearby as well. So you ladies coming with, or am I dining alone?”

The wives exchanged brief glances, reaching a common conclusion without words. "You shall have our company, and our aid," Margrethe said. "After all, it's been a while since we fed on something as tasty as a bear. Isn't that right, darling?"

---

---

"True," Violet said, distractedly. "Though we should perhaps move quickly. I smell another vampire nearby."

Despite her mental difficulties, Violet's senses were far more adept than that of her wife, and so she didn't speak of the second smell she picked up– not far from the unknown vampire. She eyed Brandon, gaze curious but reserved. Her feeling about Seattle had proved to be correct; already things were looking far more interesting.

"Shall we go, then?"

Brandon’s ears perked as he shifted his senses from focusing on food to self-preservation. He heard the other vamp that coming from the direction of the human that he was trying to discretely save, and he hoped that the other vampire hadn’t already gotten to him. An uneasy feeling washed over him as he heard the footsteps of the mystery vampire moving in closer and for some reason moving slowly, as though they were injured.
“We should definitely go.” Brandon replied with a razor edge of fear in his words. “Something doesn’t feel right and another mouth to share with doesn’t sound too appealing to me. I think we should head down to the water front, there’s an aquarium nearby where we can lay low. We can wait until it the other vamp leaves and then I should still be able to track the bears back to their den.”

____________________________________________________________________________________

Jayce went past an old mansion and tried to remember who had once owned it. He remembered hearing a story about how man who lived there was some sort of eccentric collector who had a huge collection coffins that he had imported from all over the world, supposedly his family were all vampire hunters or some crazy thing like that and all the coffins were supposed to have sleeping vampires in them that they were guarding. Jayce laughed at the thought, even if vampires were real, the likelihood that they would actually sleep in coffins was very low.
He suddenly heard a rustling behind him and he felt as though he was being watched. The wind blew past his ears and he heard the same whispering voice he had earlier. “Get off the streets. Get to the park.” The whisper spoke. He continued with following the voice in the wind by getting off the main street and continuing up the hill, darting into the woods and fields when he could find them. And following the instructions of the wind.

Violet frowned as the scent of the unknown vampire drew closer. Soon even Margrethe would be able to smell him.

“We should definitely go. Something doesn’t feel right and another mouth to share with doesn’t sound too appealing to me."

"I agree," she said. She recognised the unease in Brandon's words, feeling it too. The other vampire would have been right next to the human– any vampire leaving a treat like that in favour of other vampires was bound to have ulterior motives. She had not yet discovered the motives of the vampire right in front of them, of course, but it was a chance they would have to take.

"I think we should head down to the water front, there’s an aquarium nearby where we can lay low. We can wait until it the other vamp leaves and then I should still be able to track the bears back to their den.”

"Lead on," Margrethe spoke from beside her, taking Violet's hand and leading her along as they moved. This was no time for slip-ups, she realised, and walked in silence behind her wife, eyes directed towards the ground to avoid another mishap like the one from before.

---

Meanwhile, Margrethe didn't know exactly what was going on, but put her trust in that Violet and Brandon knew what they were talking about. She had never been one for honing her senses as much as Violet had; preferring instead to focus on her physical abilities. In her mind, there was no point in being able to smell a prey if you couldn't then sneak up on it.

"Let me know if it comes closer," she told the others. If necessary they would have to speed up the flight, and she had a few ideas for how that could be done.

Violet frowned as the scent of the unknown vampire drew closer. Soon even Margrethe would be able to smell him.

“We should definitely go. Something doesn’t feel right and another mouth to share with doesn’t sound too appealing to me."

"I agree," she said. She recognised the unease in Brandon's words, feeling it too. The other vampire would have been right next to the human– any vampire leaving a treat like that in favour of other vampires was bound to have ulterior motives. She had not yet discovered the motives of the vampire right in front of them, of course, but it was a chance they would have to take.

"I think we should head down to the water front, there’s an aquarium nearby where we can lay low. We can wait until it the other vamp leaves and then I should still be able to track the bears back to their den.”

"Lead on," Margrethe spoke from beside her, taking Violet's hand and leading her along as they moved. This was no time for slip-ups, she realised, and walked in silence behind her wife, eyes directed towards the ground to avoid another mishap like the one from before.


Meanwhile, Margrethe didn't know exactly what was going on, but put her trust in that Violet and Brandon knew what they were talking about. She had never been one for honing her senses as much as Violet had; preferring instead to focus on her physical abilities. In her mind, there was no point in being able to smell a prey if you couldn't then sneak up on it.

"Let me know if it comes closer," she told the others. If necessary they would have to speed up the flight, and she had a few ideas for how that could be done.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Setsuna heard the other vamps talking about him with his heightened senses and he wasn't pleased, He saw a pack of bears down by the water and put two and two together "So this is what they were after?" he said with a sly smile. Setsuna stopped pretending and he cracked his knuckles, he didn't care if they actually noticed his full power now, at least he was getting a feast on his own. Setsuna set his eyes on the farthest bear away from the other bears and he began to strike the bear down with his katana, the taste of it's blood hit his tongue and he eventually cut the smaller bear down and slowly fed as the others drew closer. "those other vamps had better start running..." he said as another bear had attacked him from the side, Setsuna bolted away and left the corpse alone as he gripped his new wound. "Well that was stupid of me..." he grimaced in pain as he spoke, he swung wildly at the biggest bears to scare them off and he ran the other direction grasping the wound waiting it for it to slowly heal. He'd come back for his bear corpse...

As Brandon and the two lady vamps made their way to the aquarium, Brandon caught a glimpse of the other vampire that was nearby. He was moving much faster now, and he dashed off in the direction of the bears they had been talking about. “Must not have been injured after all.” He muttered as he watched the vamp feast on the bears that he had intended for himself and the two ladies. He almost laughed as the vampire was attacked while he was feeding. The guy was good with a sword, a trait of a much older vampire, but he was careless while feeding and allowed the bloodlust to blind him to his surroundings allowing the bear to attack him from the side. He then fled the scene in the opposite direction of the bears and the aquarium.
“Well, ladies, it appears I owe you a meal. I don’t think those last two bears will be the best idea for right now, and who knows when that guy might be back. I’m not sure of any other meals in the area, but at the very least I could accompany you to… Oh how rude of me, I never asked where you ladies were going. But I’m more than willing to join you if you would like some company on your journey, you seem much more agreeable than my last pack.”

Margrethe bore an expression of near disbelief as the stranger on their tracks seemingly changed its mind and charged towards their food source instead. Though she shared some of Brandon's amusement as the stranger was forced to retreat, the entire situation still baffled her.

“Well, ladies, it appears I owe you a meal. I don’t think those last two bears will be the best idea for right now, and who knows when that guy might be back."

"Yes, I think it would be best to avoid the area for now," Margrethe agreed.

"I’m not sure of any other meals in the area, but at the very least I could accompany you to… Oh how rude of me, I never asked where you ladies were going. But I’m more than willing to join you if you would like some company on your journey, you seem much more agreeable than my last pack.”

She smiled gently, shooting a glance towards Violet, who nodded. "Well, I'm sure we would be happy to take you with us. And if I may return the compliment, the young sir seems far more suited to our company than many others of our kind we've met through the years. But that reminds me, we never asked your name? As for where we are going, we only recently arrived in the city. Our main plan so far was to find a suitable abode from which we can run our operations."

She hesitated then, in case her wife wanted to take over. "You see," she said. "The reason for our travels is quite simply collection of information. My dearest Violet is... Not well. And in order to find a cure for her ailment, we must learn more about the vampiric condition. So far our conducts have not been very fruitful, but we have a good feeling about this place, haven't we dear?"

"Very," Violet replied.

Margrethe bore an expression of near disbelief as the stranger on their tracks seemingly changed its mind and charged towards their food source instead. Though she shared some of Brandon's amusement as the stranger was forced to retreat, the entire situation still baffled her.

“Well, ladies, it appears I owe you a meal. I don’t think those last two bears will be the best idea for right now, and who knows when that guy might be back."

"Yes, I think it would be best to avoid the area for now," Margrethe agreed.

"I’m not sure of any other meals in the area, but at the very least I could accompany you to… Oh how rude of me, I never asked where you ladies were going. But I’m more than willing to join you if you would like some company on your journey, you seem much more agreeable than my last pack.”

She smiled gently, shooting a glance towards Violet, who nodded. "Well, I'm sure we would be happy to take you with us. And if I may return the compliment, the young sir seems far more suited to our company than many others of our kind we've met through the years. But that reminds me, we never asked your name? As for where we are going, we only recently arrived in the city. Our main plan so far was to find a suitable abode from which we can run our operations."

She hesitated then, in case her wife wanted to take over. "You see," she said. "The reason for our travels is quite simply collection of information. My dearest Violet is... Not well. And in order to find a cure for her ailment, we must learn more about the vampiric condition. So far our conducts have not been very fruitful, but we have a good feeling about this place, haven't we dear?"

"Very," Violet replied.




_______________________________________________________________________________________________________




Setsuna had gotten tired of running from the bears and he halted in his tracks as his adrenaline had kicked in and did a backflip over a bear cutting off it's head mid way and sheathing his sword as the other charged straight toward him, he just smiled and laughed. "ENOUGH OF YOUR SHIT!!!!!!" he yelled so loudly that anyone nearby could hear him, he wanted more to fight, this wouldn't sate his bloodlust after all his mistress was practically a vampire god and he learned from the best so this was a walk in the park with no pun intended. The bear stopped in it's tracks when he yelled at it, Setsuna redrew his sword and dashed so fast at the bear that it couldn't react fast enough as he began to dice it into meat cubes. He gave it a final swift kick to the ribs as it bit his arm and it flew into a tree next to the other bear corpse. "Feeding time....." he muffled as he sheathed his sword and walked over to the corpse, holding on to life barely as the bloodlust faded and he began to devour the bear corpse. "I'll use the other one as a bait" he said as he continued to feed, blood all over his face. He had climbed up a tree and wiped his mouth, satisfied with his meal and the other bear carcass hanging from a branch lower than him. he waited for a victim to come for it, those other vampires didn't pose a threat to him at least he thought so......

She smiled gently, shooting a glance towards Violet, who nodded. "Well, I'm sure we would be happy to take you with us. And if I may return the compliment, the young sir seems far more suited to our company than many others of our kind we've met through the years. But that reminds me, we never asked your name? As for where we are going, we only recently arrived in the city. Our main plan so far was to find a suitable abode from which we can run our operations."

She hesitated then, in case her wife wanted to take over. "You see," she said. "The reason for our travels is quite simply collection of information. My dearest Violet is... Not well. And in order to find a cure for her ailment, we must learn more about the vampiric condition. So far our conducts have not been very fruitful, but we have a good feeling about this place, haven't we dear?"

"Very," Violet replied.

“Well, I’m just making all kinds of social mistakes today. My name is Brandon.” He chuckled at his oversight. “I know quite a bit about vampirism, I did a lot of research in my spare time and I actually paid attention in my biology class. I might be able to help. As for a location of operations, there’s like four or five hospitals all really close to each other over on first hill by Lake Washington. A while back when the ocean rose the hill became an island. Humans don’t try to go there for supplies because it’s too dangerous and most vampires don’t get hurt bad enough to need medical supplies. There might be some equipment there that we can use to help figure out what’s going on with Violet. At the very least we will have a place to sleep, there’s plenty of beds.”

Brandon lead the way to the hospital. They got to the edge of lake Washington and the few big buildings on the newly formed island were visible from the water’s edge. Brandon hadn’t been able to smell the other vampire for a while so he believed they were no longer being followed or stalked.
“So what have you been able to research in the line of vampirism and how it works? You see my father worked for the government, a top secret organization known as the DPRD, the department of paranormal research and defense. He knew about a lot of things that were believed to be myth, but in reality were more terrifying than anything humans could have imagined. He explained how vampirism really works to me once. It’s not a virus it’s a retro-virus that recodes the DNA of a cell and it spreads throughout all the cells in your body. It creates a state similar to an adrenaline rush. The blood is drawn to your muscles, eyes, brain and senses giving the victim super-human like senses and super strength. It also stops the aging process, making the person nearly immortal. They feed on blood to keep their senses and everything powered up and if they go too long without blood, their bodies will start to degrade and will age at a hyper accelerated rate. It’s possible that the memory centers of Violet’s brain may not be getting an adequate amount of blood and that’s why she’s forgetting things. But that’s just an idea.”
Brandon walked into the water and waited for the ladies to join him before swimming in the direction of the island.

It was some time later when they finally reached the edge of a lake. Margrethe was keeping an eye out for approaching predators, but for the time being they were alone. She made the decision to search the island once they arrived. She hadn't high hopes, but if vampires generally kept away from it, there was at least a chance that some animals were staying there. Brandon was talking shop with Violet, a conversation she mostly tuned out of.

"It’s not a virus it’s a retro-virus that recodes the DNA of a cell and it spreads throughout all the cells in your body. It creates a state similar to an adrenaline rush. The blood is drawn to your muscles, eyes, brain and senses giving the victim super-human like senses and super strength."

It was strange to hear their affliction described in such a manner. She'd heard almost those exact words from Violet before, but she never got used to hearing the scientific explanation– so casual, in a way. When Margrethe was turned, belief in the supernatural was a given. Those cursed with vampirism never stopped to question the how. Most assumed it was a curse of the gods, and it was almost funny to her that it seemed in some ways to have more in common with the Black Plague than with divine intervention. Especially because some vampires had been burned at the stake during the time of the plague, assumed to be witches carrying out the Devil's will with their dark magic. She'd lost quite a few friends that way.

"It’s possible that the memory centers of Violet’s brain may not be getting an adequate amount of blood and that’s why she’s forgetting things. But that’s just an idea.”

"Your father and I seem to have reached many of the same conclusions," Violet was saying. "Your idea has merit, nonetheless. It's one of the reasons I'm hoping to come across a scanner. With the adequate equipment I should be able to tell if the problem is physical in nature."

They had reached the lake now, and she was taking tentative steps behind Brandon as he went into the water and began to swim. Margrethe could tell she was worried about her books, and unfastened the bag around Violet's shoulders so that she could carry it for her. The two then began swimming behind Brandon, Margrethe lagging a little behind as she made sure Violet's bag stayed dry.

"Uh, well, you could sleep at my place? I mean if you want. We could probably find somewhere else if you'd prefer, but I mean it's not much but my place is pretty comfortable. It's got," Phillip paused, his blushing visible in the dim light of the fire. "Furniture," he finished weakly.
It was now clear that Phillip at the very least liked him. It was cute the way he tried to flirt with Jayce, though it was obvious that he hadn’t had much experience with it, but in this world why would he?
“Furniture, huh? Well, how could I resist that?” Jayce flirted back.
"Maybe I should just show you." He replied, a hint of seduction in his voice.
“Lead the way.” He grinned.

__________________________________________________________________________________


The sun had already set, and while many vampires would use this opportunity to go on the hunt, Brandon and the other two ladies were exploring one of the many hospitals on an island in lake Washington. It was dark, but to a vampire that wasn’t a concern.
“If I remember right, these older hospitals used to have back-up generators. The flare would have disabled it unless in was somehow shielded from the flare. I think the best idea would be to check out the basement, if there’s one there we might have a chance of getting some power to this place for the first time in decades. I’ll go check out the basement if you two want to see if the equipment you need is up here. If not, there’s still a few more hospitals nearby.”
Brandon headed to the nearest elevator, he pried open the doors with little effort. The basement was not far down. He wrapped his hands in towels that he grabbed from a cart near the elevator, then he took hold of the cables and slid down the shaft to land on the elevator itself. He opened the hatch on the roof of the compartment and jumped down inside before prying the doors open on the bottom floor. The hospital seemed eerie with no one in it. It began to stir up memories of his brother and the vile doctors that abused him. He wandered down the halls until he found a sign that directed him to the maintenance electric room. He opened the door and went searching through the room. He found a line of identical machines lined up against the wall. These were the generators he was looking for. He began to check them out, they all seemed to be in working order with the exception of being out of fuel. He guessed that the hospital ran on back-up power as long as they could, but by the time the fuel ran out, the riots and the chaos had begun and getting more wasn’t an option.
“Well this is just great. We gotta find a gas station before we can get anything working.”
He got to the stairs and found his way back to the first floor. He could hear the ladies looking around on the other floors for the equipment they were going to need. He sat in the waiting room area waiting for them to return. The two of them came back down the stairs and to the waiting room.
“Well, I got good news and bad news. We have generators that should work and power the place up, but we have no fuel to run them.”

Philip
“Furniture, huh? Well, how could I resist that?”
Jayce was right in thinking Philip didn't have much experience with flirting. Growing up in a post-apocalyptic world, he was used to taking care of others, and had rarely had thought for anything else– mostly because his nature meant that people rarely saw him as a romantic interest. He appreciated Jayce's forwardness, even though it was new to him. As the guy grinned, Philip found himself grinning back, leading the way away from the fire to the small hut he called home.

It was a modest living space, but Philip hadn't been lying about the furniture. The entrance was a mixture of a living room and kitchen, though for obvious reasons it lacked any modern comforts Jayce might have recognised, and was overall a rudimentary imitation of life before the flare. Still, it had a sofa, a table, and a counter, and some chairs. Through the slightly open door to their left-hand side, Philip's bedroom was visible.

"Well," he said. "Here it is."

---

Margrethe
Margrethe walked behind Violet as she practically ran up the stairs despite her wet clothes. She still carried her wife's back, lazily opening doors while Violet seemed to follow the signs towards the room where she'd find the equipment. Many of the rooms were overrun by rot and plants, and would probably not do well for comfortable resting. There were at least two rooms that weren't too destroyed. They would require some fixing up, and Margethe refused to sleep somewhere without investigating possible protection towards attack, but she wasn't too tired to take upon herself a few hour's work. Hopefully they would find some food before that, though.

An excited squeal from down the hall signalled that Violet had found the machine she was looking for.

"How is it, love?" Margrethe called.

"Surprisingly intact," came the answer. "It will require some fixing. We can scavenge the city tomorrow for parts."

"Of course, dear."

"I'll need some tools, too."

"Whatever you say, dear."

Violet poked her head out, narrowing eyes at her. Margrethe smiled, and winked. Neither of the two were particularly submissive, so it was only natural for her to be suspicious. For all the centuries the two had been together, Violet had yet to learn that Margrethe was more than willing to put her goals over her own. Margrethe had drifted through nearly a thousand years of organised war, unable to settle or stay still. Violet gave her a focus.

Having explored the rest of the floor, they then returned to the waiting room downstairs to hear about Brandon's findings.

“Well, I got good news and bad news," he said as they entered. "We have generators that should work and power the place up, but we have no fuel to run them.”

"A problem for another day, I think," Margrethe said. "There are some rooms upstairs that we can use for rest. They need a bit of fixing up, but not so much as to exhaust us. First though, perhaps we should search the island for a food source?"

Jayce

Jayce couldn’t help grinning as Phillip lead him to his small hut-like house. He looked around at the inside of the house. It looked like the inside of the rustic cabin he had visited in the mountains as a child when his foster parents were trying to bond with him. The furniture all had solid wood frames and the fabric was all made from animal furs and skins. He glanced into the bedroom through the open door and caught a glimpse of the bed. It too was a solid wood frame, but instead of a mattress it had bales of hay covered in animal skins and furs as well. There was a dresser and nightstand as well.
"Well," Phillip said. "Here it is."
“It’s nice, very rustic.” Jayce said as he looked around. “But I suppose rustic is about all you can get anymore.”
He sat down on the sofa and took off his parka setting it on the back of the sofa. He was wearing a simple black t-shirt with the words “Game Over” written in pixelated purple letters. He patted the spot next to him in an invitation for Phillip to sit next to him.
“I bet it gets lonely living here all by yourself. I’m not sure what you did about the loneliness before, but …I’m in this time now and well …I guess I’m saying you don’t have to be alone …if you don’t want to be.” He said looking into Phillips dark eyes. “But anyway, I guess I’ll be sleeping here tonight, unless you had something else in mind.” He grinned motioning his head to the bedroom with a grin.

Brandon


"A problem for another day, I think," Margrethe said. "There are some rooms upstairs that we can use for rest. They need a bit of fixing up, but not so much as to exhaust us. First though, perhaps we should search the island for a food source?"
“Agreed.” Brandon replied realizing the hunger building at the back of his throat. His mouth started watering at the thought of the bears they were robbed of earlier. He started to sniff the air. He couldn’t pick up any scent of human or other creature. “I’m not sure there’s anything nearby to eat unless you can smell something I can’t.” He said with a little bit of disappointment. “I know the humans used to keep blood in cold storage in these old hospitals, but even if they had any here it wouldn’t be edible anymore.”

Margrethe
“I’m not sure there’s anything nearby to eat unless you can smell something I can’t. I know the humans used to keep blood in cold storage in these old hospitals, but even if they had any here it wouldn’t be edible anymore.”

She paused, thinking for a moment. "Violet dear, if you would prepare the rooms," she said. "I'll see what I can find to fashion some fishing equipment. It's not optimal but it's our best choice unless we want to go hunting in town again."

Margrethe left the other two to think it over as she went in search of what she needed. If the two were opposed to the fishing idea then she would welcome the suggestion, but the truth was that the three of them were getting hungry– and the past hundred or so years had taught her that hungry vampires were not to be trifled with. Not even by other vampires.

As far as she was concerned she had two choices: fishing rod or net. The former would be easier but could take longer. The second would require more finesse, but would land more prey in less time. Fishing had never been her favourite past-time, even as a human, but it was incredibly useful to know, and know well, when you were trying to survive the cold winters of medieval Norway. Fish had a remarkable ability to thrive in the strangest, harshest environments. There was a reason the vikings had so many legends involving them.

The hardest thing to find were suitable lengths of rope, but she eventually settled for some mildly transparent shower curtains that she bound together. She made the net itself by stripping the same curtains into smaller pieces. By the water she'd find some rocks to use for weights, and then she'd have a completely serviceable cast net. Thus set, she returned to the others. A small glance towards the window told her that night was coming fast, which meant they only had a few hours before they ought to return to town in search of more equipment.