[ Rust's feeling better—better than he did after having the shit methodically beaten out of him, after staggering through the foothills sick and dehydrated and witnessing the unreal sight of crabs swarming the treetops.
You know, better.
He still sounds like shit, though. The message is similar in tone to an awkward voicemail, but the pauses, the hitches in his voice, happen out of necessity. ] Never heard from you. [ Maybe she did call, one of the days he was delirious with pain. ] You heard about the crabs, yeah? I just wanna know you're okay. Alright? Alright.
We're alright. Heard about the crabs, but they missed us. It's still been a long week.
[If Chloe hadn't also seen a strange cat and then Ben Lalo disappear in front of them, she'd be feeling even more unhinged than she already does.]
What about you? Did you get caught up in it? [She knows, at least, that a certain drug lord wasn't involved in whatever ringer he's been put through this time.]
[ That puts them away from the Southeast, the spot K marked over by the airfield. Not that Rust's radioing to sniff out where they're at: he takes note without even thinking about it.
Her questions meet with a pause. ] I saw it. What they were doing, what they did to the trees. [ He manages, a kind of hollowness in his voice. He'd seen the felled trunks, the stripped limbs: can imagine it happening to an arm, a body. ] I didn't—it was a bad night. [ Belatedly: ] But nothing so much as touched me, no.
[The walkie catches the tail-end of a sigh.] I don't know how you could even believe what I've seen without seeing it. There's weirder shit happening than swarms of crabs.
So I heard. [ He says it evenly—from everything he can tell, Tai had Salamanca's number, held him in the appropriate amount of contempt, but it's not worth getting into over the walkies. If he had to guess, Chloe's out of earshot, but that could change. ] Well, it got passed along.
[ A crease of concern in his voice: ] Y'all aren't out there looking for him, are you?
[She's surprised that information has already made the rounds, even to non-Rust islanders.]
Hell no. [It's blunt enough and emphatic enough to make the next question easily rhetorical.] Where would you even begin to look for someone who vanished into nothingness?
[Sorry, Benlo. They have enough problems. And it's not like she'd put it past him to turn up like a bad penny whenever it suited him. There is a more pressing question, however, given the man's scars that Chloe had described to Taissa and Chloe's anxiety about her own safety on the island.]
[ The walkie doesn't pick up his scoff at the suggestion, but there's a trace of it in his voice. ] That'd be a first.
When we met, you know, it was right after I broke outta that cell. He turns up, spots me on the beach, acts like it's all a big coincidence. Fuck. [ Soft, drawn out, and derisive. That's enough reminiscence for his tastes. ]
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RE419S | audio | Day 31
You know, better.
He still sounds like shit, though. The message is similar in tone to an awkward voicemail, but the pauses, the hitches in his voice, happen out of necessity. ] Never heard from you. [ Maybe she did call, one of the days he was delirious with pain. ] You heard about the crabs, yeah? I just wanna know you're okay. Alright? Alright.
[ Some static, then the walkie clicks off. ]
Audio
[If Chloe hadn't also seen a strange cat and then
BenLalo disappear in front of them, she'd be feeling even more unhinged than she already does.]What about you? Did you get caught up in it? [She knows, at least, that a certain drug lord wasn't involved in whatever ringer he's been put through this time.]
Audio
Her questions meet with a pause. ] I saw it. What they were doing, what they did to the trees. [ He manages, a kind of hollowness in his voice. He'd seen the felled trunks, the stripped limbs: can imagine it happening to an arm, a body. ] I didn't—it was a bad night. [ Belatedly: ] But nothing so much as touched me, no.
[ A sharp little breath. ] Alright, your turn.
no subject
Salamanca is out of the picture. Again.
no subject
[ A crease of concern in his voice: ] Y'all aren't out there looking for him, are you?
no subject
Hell no. [It's blunt enough and emphatic enough to make the next question easily rhetorical.] Where would you even begin to look for someone who vanished into nothingness?
[Sorry, Benlo. They have enough problems. And it's not like she'd put it past him to turn up like a bad penny whenever it suited him. There is a more pressing question, however, given the man's scars that Chloe had described to Taissa and Chloe's anxiety about her own safety on the island.]
You're not going to try it, are you?
no subject
When we met, you know, it was right after I broke outta that cell. He turns up, spots me on the beach, acts like it's all a big coincidence. Fuck. [ Soft, drawn out, and derisive. That's enough reminiscence for his tastes. ]
You saw it too, huh?