Moving time!

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The others had slept.

Seabay had acted, instead, restless. Because of his limitations, he tended to nap and be active in shifts throughout the day, not adhering to the normal schedule of eight hours sleep and the rest being up. With cautious and slow, limping steps, he had found his way through the aisles of cots to a sink, scrounged about and found a bucket and some ragged towels that smelled clean and some soap, and brought them to Marta's cot. Then he proceeded to clean what blood and grime he could from her fur, doing his best to avoid her cuts and going for whatever Kaitlyn and her team had missed. The air now smelled slightly of soap and wet dog.

With the dog pretty much cleaned up, he was now bent over the bucket, scrubbing grime and caked blood off her collar, and the Seabay International Enterprises tag...

Kaitlyn's arrival made him stiffen, straightening. Amusingly, both he and Marta turned their heads towards her at the same time, smelling the food. "I'm pretty much back to par, and Marta's better," Seabay offered quietly, before resuming his scrubbing. After all, aches and pains were his norm. "Wouldn't mind a bath and a change of clothes, but our stuff's in the SUV."

Pausing again, the blind teen peered over his shoulder at Lia and Zack. "Hey, Lia, Zack, maybe you guys can go get some of our stuff, and I'll help Miss Kait move Josh and Marta? Though... I hope you've some way of getting them there like a cart, Miss Kait, because none of us can carry either of them... but I think I can help you transfer them--I learned a lot about that when I got hospitalized myself. I... kind of liked picking the brains of the nurses and therapists at the time... It was a way to get my mind off other things. So I'm full of superfluous information."

Lia had dozed a little while, but she had been awake now long enough to hear Sebastian moving around and see him tend so carefully to Marta. She didn't move or alert him to the fact that she was awake for fear of intruding upon what seemed to be a private moment, though she smiled in his direction, knowing he would never see that.

Kaitlyn's arrival, however gave her no more pretext to pretend to sleep, and she sat up and rubbed at her eyes at the sudden onslaught of light, even if it wasn't the entire infirmary that was lit.

"Feeling dandy," Lia answered Kaitlyn's query. "Though I'm with Seabay... I could use a shower and change of clothes. I suppose that'll be the next order of business when we actually get upstairs. I can help you move Josh or Marta, if you need," she offered as well. "Just tell me what to do."

She jumped off her cot and sniffed at the offered food, her stomach growling loudly as she did so. "Yum!" she exclaimed before looking up to see Kaitlyn's face. "Hey, you okay?" she asked. "You look like..." She swallowed her phrase of, "You look like crap," before rephrasing, "You look tired."

Zack, who'd still been sleeping, stirred on the bed, and sat bolt upright screaming, "DANNNNNNYYYYY!"

His little brother's cry prompted Josh into action. Groaning, he rolled painfully from the cot upon which he'd lain and stumbled unsteadily toward his brother's cot, sinking against the wall next to it. Using his good arm, he drew Zack to him, shaking noticeable, his breathing ragged as he held the suddenly frightened boy. "Shh..." he whispered, holding Zack tightly.

The boy seemed to take a moment to realize first where he was, then what had happened to lead them there. "Oh, god... I'm sorry," he sobbed, taking in his brother's pale, drawn features, noting the pain in his eyes. "I'm sorry..."

Josh shook his head, holding his little brother closer still, though carefully keeping him to his uninjured side as he sat leaning against the wall for support. "Shhh..." he whispered again.

Slowly, Zack calmed, then drew back from his brother. "You shouldn't... I'm sorry, you weren't supposed to move. You're... here... let's get you up, okay..."

Josh shook his head, raising a shaking hand, then one finger, leaning his head back against the wall and closing his eyes. He needed a minute. No way he was moving again just yet. Zack nodded, sitting back on his heels to wait. Only then did he notice Kait and the others in the room. He looked away quickly, bright red, embarrassed at having all of that witnessed by the others.

Seabay jumped, and dropped the collar to the floor at Zack's cry, the bucket of bloody soapy water hitting the floor--and luckily staying upright, though plenty splashed around--while he himself almost fell back against Marta, eliciting a pained whine from the dog.

"Whoah! You guys okay?" he asked Josh and Zack, even as he struggled back into a sitting position. "Sorry, Marta," he apologized to the dog.

Blindly, he felt around for the cleaning rag... but he couldn't find the collar now, and had no idea where it had gone...

"Guess Josh can move himself, with a little help," the blind man quipped teasingly, smiling, despite his silent concern about not finding the collar (only visible in how his hands hunted urgently). "That's good. But better one of us still helps you, Josh, because I don't know how any of us'll get you off the floor if you fall--Lia and Zack're too small, I'm gimpy, and Miss Kait's exhausted. So we need you to be able to stay upright."

(OOC--Kaitlyn might find it first--and realize from the company tag and pre-bombing media coverage just who Seabay is.)

"I'm okay," Zack called back, sounding as if he might cry. "Josh is... he's... he shouldn't have had to..." He swallowed hard. "Yeah, he's... just gonna sit here a minute, I think." He couldn't take his eyes off of Josh, sitting there drawing slow, deep breaths in an attempt to steady himself, so pale and still, save for the shaking he still couldn't seem to stop.

"Are you and Marta okay?" Zack asked, turning toward Seabay, but not moving away from his brother. Not yet. He looked around for the blanket he'd worn, thinking perhaps wrapping it around his brother's still-shirtless shoulders would help with the shaking. If nothing else, he decided as he drew it to them and gently placed it over his brother, it'd cover up the brand, stitches and scars, meaning Josh'd feel less conspicuous... something he always preferred.

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Zack's sudden outburst sent Lia into a near panic as she dashed out of bed and looking around defensively for danger. By the time her attention returned to the boy in question, Josh was cradling him. The dancer refrained from interfering there, though she cringed at the pain written on Josh's face after they broke apart. Still, the show of affection left her teary-eyed. She didn't have anyone left who would do that for her, and that realization stung.

"I can help carry a stretcher for Marta," Lia responded quickly at Kaitlyn's suggestion, her voice somewhat tight. She was obviously too big to simply lay comfortably in Seabay's lap, "And if we have to, we can make more than one trip."

She gingerly picked at one of the offered food items and set herself back on her cot, though she merely nibbled at the food, not really hungry for the moment.

"You sure you're all okay, Zack? Seabay?" she asked.

"My fault," Zack answered Kait in his brother's defense. "He could never sleep through my nightmares... not since I was little. He always took care of me, no matter what else was happening." He swallowed hard, his guilt obvious. "Guess not much has changed." He looked over at his brother before answering Lia, "I'm okay. Just... you know... slept wrong..."

Then, turning his attention back to Kait, he said. "You can go ahead and help Seabay and Marta, Miss Kait. I can push Josh. He's tall, but not heavy. Never heavy enough, they always complained about that. But can we find him a shirt? A turtleneck, maybe? He likes them better. Long sleeves and turtlenecks. He gets cold."

Zack frowns when his brother doesn't move or react to what anyone else says at all, instead still leaning, eyes closed against the wall. Still, "You should go ahead and eat," is all he says to the others. "I'll grab something in a minute." He'd wait until his brother was ready. He owed him that.

Seabay nodded his thanks to Kaitlyn, paling slightly as he took the collar back--and fastened it on Marta once more. He wasn't sure what the Healer might think--or say to others--once she got over her fatigue, and it made him nervous. But there was nothing he could do about it now.

"I'm fine," he told Lia and Zack, the response almost automatic. Seabay washed his hands in the bucket, too, then pushed it aside for the moment with his foot. He'd dump it when he had to stand up anyway.

"I don't need a wheelchair," he told them all quietly, turning to the food. A hand blindly sought out a bit of bread and cheese. He didn't want to stuff himself yet, when he was still recovering from near-starvation. He didn't have the urge. "I can walk, just slower now. I just need someone to guide me, is all. If the wheelchair's big enough, Marta can fit in it... but yeah, someone'll still have to push it, and I'd just run it into walls."

Listening to Zack's words, the blind teen felt sorry for the pair, and grabbed up his blanket from his cot, tossing it to Zack's voice--with surprising accuracy for someone who couldn't see at all. "You can have my blanket, guys. It can help, some, at least until we get our stuff. You've stuff in the packs in the car, right? Once Miss Kait shows us where we'll be, someone can run down and bring it all up, and we can settle in."

Zack caught the blanket with a grateful, if quiet, "Thanks," wrapping it around his brother as well. "Ready?" he asked.

Slowly, reluctantly, Josh opened his eyes and nodded, waving for Zack to step back. He'd rather try on his own to get back up and succeed or fail as he would than risk someone else getting hurt because he lost his balance and took them down with them. He drew his feet in, planting them under him and pushed up to a standing position, using the wall for support and balance, then stepped toward the cot, swaying a bit, but reaching it, grasping it with his good arm before sitting down upon it, head bowed low, breathing deep again to ward off the nausea and dizziness that seemed to accompany even the slightest movement.

"See... fine..." Zack told the others, prompting a huff of laughter from his brother. Josh looked up at Kait and frowned. They had coffee in the SUV, in one of his packs - he'd live on coffee given the option. Unfortunately, he was pretty sure that even if the SUV were in the next room he wouldn't be able to get it for her. "What is it?" Zack asked, noting the frown.

"Coffee," Josh answered quietly, nodding toward Kait.

Zack looked startled, then started to laugh. "Any excuse to get yourself a cup, huh?" he teased before turning to Kait. "He wants me to get some coffee out of his pack for you. You really do look like..." He stopped, noting the warning look from his brother. "You could use it..." he completed his sentence, severely amended.

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The blind teen carefully felt the length and breadth of the fiberglass rod--maybe it had been part of someone's fishing gear once. But it would do the job. "Thanks, Miss Kait... It'll work out fine."

But once he'd finished munching, Seabay stood to o dump the soapy water and return the rags, and helped guide the one wheelchair up to Marta's cot. Patting the seat on the wheelchair, he called, "Marta... come here, girl. C'mon..."

Marta levered up to her feet, but held her injured leg off the cot, hobbling on three over into the wheelchair as directed, whining softly. Her master felt the wheelchair lurch as she hopped in and began to settle her bulk on it.

He reached down and petted her. "Good girl."

"Hey, Zack, Josh... maybe one of the hotel rooms has a coffeemaker? Most hotels I stayed at had one in every suite... even if was a cheap one for only that hotel's coffee packets. But maybe you can modify such?" he mused. "Miss Kait--do you know if there are any in this hotel? Otherwise... I don't need any clothes--I've plenty in my bags in the car. We'll need somewhere to wash them soon, though..."

Seabay wondered if Lia had much with her, or either of the brothers. For the moment, he waited for Lia to help guide Marta and him--or Kaitlyn or Zack to request aid with helping get Josh into the other wheelchair, as he needed their voices as guides if he was going to help. He had little else to go on, to figure out what they were doing.

"That'd be great if we could find a coffee maker. Smaller might be good, too. Just a couple of cups. Otherwise, he goes through pots of the stuff when you let him," Zack told Seabay. "We had a great ten cup one we found for awhile but Josh ended up having to scavenge the fuses out of it for something else about a week ago. Huge sacrifice," he concluded in a stage whisper, prompting another huff of silent laughter from his brother.

Josh realized everyone was pretty much waiting on him. Gathering himself as well as he could, he carefully rose, then sat back down almost immediately, paler than they'd seen him yet. He leaned forward again, drawing deep breaths and blinking desperately.

Don't pass out, he ordered himself silently. Don't pass out... don't pass out...

"I think it's our turn to do the work, 'kay?" Zack said to his brother as he moved the wheelchair closer, locked the wheels and moved around to the front of it, then waited, watching his brother closely. "Let me help. Please."

Josh made no attempt to respond, knowing he was in no position to argue at the moment, but not really certain how much help someone more than a full foot shorter than him could be in this.

((OOC: Hey, let a girl get a word in edgewise! ))


Lia gasped as Josh got up and walked back toward his cot, obviously straining under the effort. She would have dashed to his side to help had she not known already that he disliked being touched, for one, and that it would hurt whatever sense of pride he had about the whole thing. Men and their pride.

"I don't think I've had coffee since.... well, since," Lia quipped aloud, though the rest of the conversation moved ahead without her as first Seabay had Marta hop onto a wheel chair, then Josh attempted to do the same unsuccessfully.

"I have some spare clothes in my pack," Lia told Kaitlyn, "It should last me a little while, at least until I can figure out some way to bargain for more," she said, though she moved toward Zack and Josh as she did so.

"Let's get Josh onto this wheelchair, and then I can push Marta up. I'm sure Seabay can hold on to my shoulder for guidance, too?" she suggested, glancing at Sebastian for confirmation.

"Come on, Josh-o, let's get you on," she said quietly. It was true she was shorter than he was, but she was also strong and feisty, and they didn't have to get the taller man all the way /up/, just up far enough to get him into the wheel chair. "Back me up," she told Zack before she laced an arm under Josh's good one. "Heave-ho," she said, before starting to help him up, hoping it wouldn't hurt his shoulder too badly.

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Josh did his best to work with Lia and Zack, but in the end it was all he could do just to stay conscious. He gasped as the pain from his shoulder coursed through him, suddenly unable to breathe. His eyes rolled back and he struggled hard against the darkness. He could feel the chair begin to move, and cursed himself for his own weakness. They shouldn't be doing all the work here. He could hear Kaitlyn's voice, but couldn't quite make out the words at first around the buzzing in his ears and the fuzzy feeling in his brain. The buzzing and fuzzy feeling subsided enough for him to make out what she was saying about the time they reach the elevators. He frowned at the sound the elevators made. No way they were safe like that, he thought. He'd need to fix those. Listening to her discuss the computer terminals and security systems, he added those to his mental to-do list as well.

Noting the look in his brother's eye, Zack leaned forward and whispered, "A week. Please, nothing for at least a week. Heal first. Okay?"

He glanced at Lia, then nodded back at Josh. They were going to have their hands full.

"Coffee," Seabay mused, a wistful sigh. He couldn't recall when he last had any, either. Not that he was supposed to, ever since his poisoning--at least not the caffeinated kind. The doctors had been wary of it doing things to his heart rate or something...

But he'd practically lived off that and sport drinks before. And he missed them.

Tagging along with Lia as she pushed Marta's wheelchair, he listened to Kaitlyn explain things, grateful for her chatter to help guide him. He limped and prodded here and there inexpertly with the rod to help, as well, but sound was still his best guide--and he couldn't help still being hesitant and wary of the unknown without Marta.

"I'm for anything with a bed and a toilet that works--a shower'd be a bonus," Seabay chuckled, the sound rough and hoarse like someone starting to get laryngitis. "Though a tub'd be good for if I need to bathe Marta, too, sometime... Light or no light doesn't matter to us anymore. And it's not like there's fresh air to let in anymore, either. So up to Zack and Lia."

And Josh, but Zack was sure to speak for him, knowing what he preferred--and considering the tall teen was quieter than normal. Seabay silently hoped Josh hadn't passed out yet, and Zack's whisper was reassuring on that point.

"Sun's nice," Lia perked up at the thought, despite the faltering elevator, "even if it's only a little... Unless... you guys don't have flying mutants that might crash through the windows around here, do you?" she asked apprehensively.

"Though Seabay's right. He needs a shower or a bath or some sort of water," she teased, payback for the earlier reaction to her feet. "That can't be purely Marta I smell." She then released one of the sides of Marta's wheelchair to put her hand next to her mouth in a stage-whisper to Kaitlyn, "Boys stink!"

The elevator doors opened onto the 4th floor, and Lia quickly stepped out, guiding Marta in front of her and Sebastian at her back, holding on to her shoulder, so that she could get out of the way for Josh, Zack, and Kaitlyn. She gave Zack a knowing smile at his worried look that told him not to worry, they would make sure Josh stayed calm all together. Tag team him, if they had to.

"Which way, then?" she asked Kaitlyn. "That is, if everyone agrees to the whole outside, windows, sun, thing. If not, guess I'll just have to fall in line," she shrugged with a playful grimace.

Seabay made a face at Lia. "Yeah, it's Marta, sweat, and oily water, with a hint of the remaining lavender soap. I know. Don't remind me. But the generator broke a few days just before you guys reached my bunker and didn't offer much else to live with, and soap was getting scarce." He stuck his tongue out at her, then grinned. "Eau de Oil-Spill-on-Working-Dog still beats raw-meat mushroom feet."

"We don't much care, Miss Kait," Zack answered for himself and Josh, "As long as there's a place to clean up and enough beds, and maybe a kitchenette, we're all good." He watched his brother closely as they walked, noting he'd closed his eyes again. "And closer might be better right now."

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"You have raw meat mushroom feet?" Lia answered Sebastian with shock in her voice, using the classic rubber-glue comeback often quoted in elementary school playgrounds. "Gross!"

Lia looked around the room as Kaitlyn led them in. It was strange how quickly one forgot what real, actual rooms looked like, and what a well-kept, safe-haven might feel like and be like. A lump rose in her throat at the sight of what might be their home for awhile. She was so engrossed in that emotion that she almost missed Kaitlyn's directions.

"Oh, er, right. Be right back," she said, turning quickly on her heels and heading back out the door to find the room labeled "407."

She located it easily enough, and found the key in the door, just as it had been for 405. She unlatched the lock, and, after a few moments' expectant hesitation, she swung the door open to inspect the rest of their new familial habitation. This one was almost identical, if not a mirror image, to the other door with one exception.

She quickly found the corresponding adjoining door and opened it. "This one has a kitchen!" she informed them.

"Though you'd better not expect me to be the stay-at-home cooking and cleaning for you type. I might be the only girl living in the room, but I'm not a Suzie homemaker!" she jokingly warned. "I mean, I'll help, obviously, but you lot have got to pull your weight too!"

"Your raw-meat mushroom feet, Lia," Seabay returned firmly, sticking his tongue out at her. "No wonder Marta likes your smell."

Holding onto Marta's wheelchair firmly, he listened to the others exploring the first set of rooms, then Lia dash off to open the door to the next, and they explored in there... getting a scope of the space around him from the sounds and comments all around.

"Yeah, well, don't get into a fuss, Lia. I'm sure we can all do some, since we were all pretty self-sufficient before we met. I can kind of cook enough to make it edible, just basic and plain stuff, with a microwave and oven... just don't expect a new Emeril, adding spices to perfection with a 'Bam!'. And cleaning isn't that hard if you want basic help from me there. After all, I can wipe things down with cleaners and disinfectants just as easily as anyone else," Seabay offered. "I just can't tolerate the cleaners' smell as much, but it beats the alternative smells..."

The blind teen smirked at Zack when the boy got the key. "Well, pick your beds. All I care about is if it has a mattress without holes or protruding springs and a couple blankets worthy of the title. So... the pair with the kitchen, or the balcony?"

Yeah, he could understand how Zack wanted to stick close to his brother, after almost losing him--and with that nightmare problem, how they've found ways to help each other. Sebastian knew he'd feel almost odd without Marta's warm bulk against his back, himself. In fact, that had helped with his usual aches once the furnace died, before he could get a fire going to replace it--she was better than a hot water bottle. Still, it sounded as though he and Lia might have to share a set of rooms... not that he could or would bother her, but it could be a bit uncomfortable then... or were the brothers both going to take one bed? That seemed a bit limited in space, considering how big Josh was... Or maybe they could drag the third bed into here?

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