Wildlands (rskde & BurningWillows)

[BurningWillows]

"Don't fret over it," Dakota whispers, stroking her hair and kissing her ear once more. She watches her fall asleep, smiling to herself.

"You have no idea how much you mean to me," she sighs as Vanessa drifts off, knowing she couldn't hear her, "Goodnight my goddess."

Resting her head Dakota fell asleep promptly too, warm and happy curled up around her girlfriend.

~~

Hours later her alarm went off and they both woke, Dakota climbing out of bed first to retrieve clean clothes and quickly wash the strap on before anyone saw. Finding a large backpack she stuffed her sex toy into the bottom, then piled clothing for both her and Vanessa in, as well as some toiletries.

"Anything I'm missing love?" she asked, hearing the soft footsteps outside their door signalling the rest of the apartment was awake, "We need to head out soon before there is any chance of a second run in with Collin."

 

[Risky]

Vanessa wakes up and helps Dakota pack the backpack, as she didn't really have many possessions of her own. She wears a pair of slim jeans that cling to her figure and a baggy t-shirt.

She just shakes her head. "Everything is accounted for." She says with a smile.

Collin hadn't been able to sleep.

He sits in the living room of the apartment he had taken over with Nicki, he sits with his head in his hands, unable to forget the destroyed face of his little sister. He wishes Nicki was awake to be with him, but he had decided to let her sleep.

 

[BurningWillows]

Standing up, she zips the backpack and hands it over to Vanessa before grabbing a pair of black tights and her well worn combat boots. She finds a white tank top and pulls that on before shrugging on a leather jacket. Then with a spontaneous gesture she turns and pulls the blonde into her arms, kissing her lovingly.

"No matter what happens, you won't leave my side alright? I will protect you with my dying breath if I have to."

Iris wakes first, her stomach in knots over everything to come. Slowly she nudges Andrew awake, curling in his arms for a few minutes just to settle her unease.

"What if Collin is waiting outside? What if he hurts you again?" she had been having nightmares of it all night, making for a restless sleep.

After a bit she got up and dragged him up too, Iris setting to work repacking their two backpacks with all their personal belongings. With that done she found a comfortable pair of faded jeans and a black shirt before heading to the kitchen to make breakfast, trying and failing to be quiet and not alert Collin or Nicki. Her error was trying to pull a plate from the top shelf, but even with her height her hand slipped as she pulled it out and the dish crashed to the floor, shattering. Iris winced, knowing the entire apartment could hear.

 

[Risky]

Vanessa~

She kisses her back, her forehead resting against Dakota's. She nods. "Thank you.." She says quietly, her eyes sparkling in the light from the sun coming into their room.

Andrew~

He sighs, nuzzling against her before slipping back into sleep again, not wanting to wake up from Iris' side. He finally gets up, giving her another hug before going back to packing his things.

"Collin won't bother us." He says softly, rubbing her bare arm before getting dressed himself, just going for a pair of shorts and a t-shirt that sticks to his chest. He puts on his shoes before walking out to the kitchen.

He sits down and starts eating, loving that Iris could cook so well.

 

[BurningWillows]

She looked over at Andrew as the plate shattered, biting her lip, "Oops."

She grabbed the broom and began to clean up, hoping she didn't startle anyone.

Except she had. Nicki woke with a jolt, hearing the crash and fearing there was another ambush. She was always on edge now, always ready to cry or breakdown at any second. The loss of her best friend was hard to accept, and worse for Collin. The two leaned on each other, especially when the nighmares came. Lots of nightmares.

Nicki got up, adjusting her black tank top and shorts before tiptoeing out into the living room. Her arms wrapped around Collins neck, her lips on his cheek.

"Was that you Collin? I heard a crashing noise."

Dakota smiled, kissing her on the nose, "I have something for you."

Digging under the mattress she pulled out a small purple box, handing it her. It was plain looking with a little blue bow, slightly squished.

"I found this and thought of you. Was going to save it till later but I couldn't wait, not with everything going to shit. My mom...she wears this necklace around her neck, has since I was born. My father gave it to her, as a reminder that he'd always protect her. And he has," she bit her lip, a family trait, and looked into Vanessa's bright eyes, "You are the single best thing that has ever happened to me. Not only are you smart, but your kind, and beautiful, and the best damn sex I've ever had. And I wanted to give you this...as a reminder of how important you are to me."

She laughed nervously, running her hands through her hair - a trait she'd also gained from her father, "It's cheesy yes, but it's true. Open it."

Inside was a small silver charm bracelet with three charms already attached: a goddess pendant, a cat, and a tiny sun.

"Because your my golden goddess," Dakota explained, pointing at the sun and the goddess charm, "You're hair reminds me of the sun and you are the most beautiful woman I've ever laid eyes on. And this pendant is a kitten...and I don't need to explain that one to you."

 

[Risky]

Collin wraps his arms around Nicki, pulling her down so that she is sitting. "It wasn't me.." He says softly, resting his head against her shoulder. "I can't stop having nightmares.. I can't sleep Nicki." He says softly. "I need your help.. I need you." He says.

He leans his head up, capturing her lips with his before going back to resting his head on her shoulder. "I love you.." He says quietly.

Vanessa gingerly takes the bracelet, slipping it on to her dominant wrist before jumping on Dakota, her arms around her neck, legs around her waist. "I love it.. Thank you." She whispers, burying her face into the redhead's neck.

She nuzzles into her neck before kissing the soft flesh, sighing against her skin.

 

[BurningWillows]

Dakota laughs, "I'm glad you do. We should probably go investigate that crash now kitten, in case Collin came back."

Opening the door she carried Vanessa out who was wrapped around her like a monkey. Giggling she carried her into the kitchen to the surprise of Andrew and Iris. Dakota kept her arms wrapped tightly around her girlfriend until she set her down on the counter.

"Dropped a plate Iris?" Dakota smiled, "Whoops. Hey babe, what do you want for breakfast before we leave?"

Iris was cleaning up her dish, and pulling out cereal while they spoke, making Dakota pull out her own bowl for Cheerios, waiting for Dakota to answer.

 

[Risky]

Vanessa giggles when she is placed on the counter, she rests her head against the wall before thinking. "I'll just have some cereal." She says with a smile, watching Dakota work.

 

[BurningWillows]

Dakota gets to work pouring them two cereals, winking at Andrew as she set her bowl down on the table and handed one to Vanessa.

"Look at her wrist," Dakota whispered, wanting to show off to her brother.

"I love you too," she kissed him back lovingly, happy to hear those words from his mouth. He'd almost said it a few times now, but with Willow's death it had been hard for either of them to really speak about happy things.

"So what broke?" she asked, looking around, "'cause it woke me up from my first half decent sleep I've had all week."

 

[Risky]

Andrew~

He looks over at Vanessa's wrist, seeing the charm bracelet, he nods to Dakota. "Nice.. But not better than what I got." He says before taking out a small black box and showing it to Dakota.

Inside is a necklace engraved with a ruby, etchings around the ruby that are obviously handmade just read 'Iris' surrounding the ruby. He puts it away once Dakota has gotten an eyeful.

Collin~

"I think it was downstairs, they're awake for some reason." He says quietly. "I don't even want to look at them right now.." He says.

 

[BurningWillows]

Dakota raises her eyebrows at him, smirking. It was also a competition with the twins. But a fun one. Still that necklace wouldn't have been lying around in any shop, especially with the personalized writing. Dakota had found hers when she was out scouting once and stumbled onto a jewelry shop mostly left untouched. The bracelet was there along with dozens of charms but she only wanted the three.

"How long have you been storing that?" She asked under her breath, careful no one heard but him.

Meanwhile upstairs Nicki looked confused.

"Why the hell are they up? Is Dakota keeping stuff from us now too? It's not enough her brother took...took..."

Tears welled in her eyes as she dropped into his lap crying, "i can't. I can't even say it. It hurts Collin. So much."

 

[Risky]

Andrew~

"Only about two weeks, I got it right after you and Vanessa started fucking." He whispers, a smile touching his lips. "I engraved it myself, with my knife." He explains.

Collin~

He holds her against him, resting his head against hers and letting her cry it out. "I know it hurts.. It wasn't fair.." He says softly, stroking her hair while he continues to try to calm her down.

 

[BurningWillows]

Nicki~

"No," she sobbed, "it wasn't fair. It was awful."

Dakota~

Dakota couldn't help the devilish grin at Andrews words, "and she is by far the best sex I've ever had. You miss out bro. And I'm not sharing. Ever."

 

[Risky]

Andrew~

He laughs. "I'm sure Iris is far better." He just says before pushing off of the counter and sitting down at the table, getting himself some of the food his girlfriend had made. "This is really good babe." He says while looking up at Iris with a smile.

Collin~

He keeps trying to calm her. "I know.. Nicki I understand the pain, I really do.. Just right now we gotta focus on the positives and move on, everybody here has lost family and friends, we're all hurt by the bastards out there."

 

[BurningWillows]

Dakota finished her meal and threw her dishes in the sink, kissing Vanessa on the cheek. God did she love this girl. Iris was laughing behind her at Andrew's words, obviously finding his compliment funny.

"It's toast and scrambled eggs. Nothing special Andy. Now hurry up and eat."

"Iris is right. we head out in ten minutes," Dakota chirps, her hands running down Vanessa's arms before moving away, "I'm checking on mom, and we should all be heading out."

 

[Risky]

Andrew laughs before going back to eating his meal, quickly finishing it before putting the dish into the sink.

He looks around at the rest of the team before grabbing his pack and hoisting it on to his shoulder with a grunt, waiting for Dakota to get their mother out into the common area so that they could leave.

 

[BurningWillows]

Dakota brought her mom to the main entrance and they all got ready and left. They were careful to sneak out not to wake too many people. When they got outside she let Andy lead them to the dealership and choose a car, since he'd been driving.

 

[Risky]

He looks around before getting behind the wheel of a Toyota Camry, deciding that it had enough space for all of them while also being fuel efficient. He checks the fuel gauge and finds it a quarter full.

He looks over at Dakota and gives her a thumbs up.

 

[BurningWillows]

"We can drive out of town with that, maybe we will find a town not guarded," She got into the passenger seat, "If it comes down to it we will follow my plan, but for now...we'll do it your way."

 

[Risky]

He nods and starts driving, headed towards the Mississippi River, as the compass in the car tells him he is going in the right direction.

"Just tell me when to stop." He says while driving.

 

[BurningWillows]

They drove for hours until they hit a small town and Dakota suggest they stop for gas. Two blocks from the station she stopped the truck and got out, kissing Vanessa.

"I'll scout ahead, make sure we aren't attacked. Don't come till you hear my signal."

She took the second radio as Andrew had the first and jogged off, lookin. For trouble

 

[Risky]

Vanessa kisses Dakota back before nodding. "We'll stay here.." She says quietly before getting back into the car to wait for the redhead to return to them.

 

[BurningWillows]

Dakota slunk between the houses, stepping lightly until she was close. Using her scope she spied the gas station, looking for soldiers. All she saw was a deserted gas station on a deserted street. The whole city was deserted. Stepping out she got closer, pulling her radio out to buzz Andrew.

"Ok pull forward. Stay slow though in case I'm wrong here...but it looks empty."

She was able to step right to the first pump and still nothing happened. She could hear Andy coming down the street, but a further investigation found nothing more than a few broken windows and some bags of chips left untouched. She also snagged a half empty box of chocolate bars in the back room hidden on the shelf. Walking out she found them pulling up and smiled, showing her spoils.

"We got snacks!" she laughed, watching Iris get out.

"I'll pump, you can get in. If you'd like you can sit in the back with Vanessa and I'll sit with Andy."

"Sure," Dakota shrugged, tossing the box of chocolates on the middle seat beside her mom and handing out the chips. While she did Iris filled the tank, the two of them chatting idly.

When they were done Iris got in and Dakota did a final sweep, looking for any other goodies that might have been left behind. The station had been picked mostly cleaned so she shrugged and was walking out, whistling to herself. She stopped halfway to the car to tie her shoes...and that's when she saw it. A camera above them on the roof that was set up probably years ago for the cashier to watch the customers was moving, angling between the car and her. There was no one inside and the electricity was off, so there'd be no way for it to be moving unless...unless it was hacked. Dakota cursed but didn't jump up, knowing if she gave herself away then alarms would go off. The UN had to have set up this trap, able to watch her runaways trying to esape New York. It was probably only a precaution of theirs, maybe even to catch soldiers trying to sneak in to the state. But with Dakota's name on the top of every UN soldiers hit list, and their new orders to kill on sight, their luck had just dried out.

"Andrew," Dakota's voice was deadly quiet as she got into the vehicle, sitting into the back with Vanessa, "There's a camera above us that just followed me back to the car."

"But there's no electricity," Iris looked back, "How is that-?"

"The UN must have jacked it," Dakota cut in, "We need to high tail it now. They've probably already sent soldiers, maybe even Blake the minute they spotted me coming up. They've had ten minutes on us now to get organized and send a team. We got to go Andy. Now!"

 

[Risky]

Andrew slowly pulls up to the gas station, starting to pump fuel while zoning out, not really paying attention until Dakota starts frantically speaking.

He pulls the pump out of the car and quickly jumps into the driver's seat of the car, waiting for the girls to get in before speeding off, driving like a stunt driver in an action movie.

 

[BurningWillows]

Dakota shuts the door and they speed off, but it isn't long before more cars joined the long highway, gaining on them.

"Fuck fuck fuck," Dakota swore, holding Vanessa's hand hard in fear. She had too many to protect, and there were too many soldiers. The UN weren't taking risks with her this time.