Waiting to Die

*They appear to just be standing around.*

V"Where do we go now!?"

Schreiber<We need to get...somewhere where I can look my wounds over. See if I can stitch them up myself or if I'll need to see someone. Preferably someone who won't ask questions.>

L"You do that. I'm going to go find Ira. Once he's out of the way, I can finally finish this thing."

Schreiber<Don't be--so stupid--there is no "finishing" it!>

L"There's only feeding it to keep it away from you, right? Like you did with the priest?"

Schreiber<That's--that's entirely--different!>

L"You're not going to last much longer, Doctor. You might as well come clean."

*Eve looks down at her leg, wincing*

Eve:<If...you know someone who won't...>

*She stops and looks between Lilith and the professor*

Tirea:<(I think we should go over...)>

Astarte nodded and stood, ready to walk over with Tirea.

*Lilith whirls around at hearing someone approach, but relaxes & turns back when she sees it's only Astarte & Tirea. By this point the groaning noises are back, but everyone appears to be ignoring them, though Vanessa looks a bit ill. They can barely make out that Schreiber is nursing some kind of stomach wound & looks worse than Vanessa, while Eve has some gash on her leg.*

Schreiber<Always...patched my own wounds....>

L"Regardless, we can't stay here. Once the fire builds, someone will call the police."

Tirea:<Glad to see you guys escaped. Take out Grimm?>

*Eve dips her head*

Eve:<Should we go back?>

"Did he shoot you? The police could already be on the way here," Astarte looked around to the groaning. "We should just get out now."

*She can't see what it is, since it's around the corner of the house & in the bushes somewhere.*

Schreiber<Yes...fucking maniac....>

L"There's only 1 way we're going to get back into the mountains."

*She looks to the empty, unmarked police car.*

L"I'll drive. We don't want Schreiber blacking out at the wheel."

Eve:<We should ditch the car before we reach the mountains, increase their are GPS trackers in the cars.>

"There has to be," Astarte nodded, approaching the car.

L"I was going to suggest pushing it off of a cliff. Or maybe into the river."

*She turns to Schreiber, who reluctantly digs the keys out of her pocket & tosses them to Lilith. As she goes to start the car, Vanessa helps her into the back.*

L"Before we dump this thing, we should take all of the supplies from it we can, just in case we can't reach a hide out tonight. Battery, first aid, flashlights, light bulbs, anything that might be of some use."

*Eve and Tirea slowly approach the car*

Tirea:<Anyone have any extra weapons?>

Astarte slipped into the back, "Did you kill the cops who were here? Where are they?"

V"None I want to give to you."

Schreiber<That's not important, just get us out of here.>

*With Vanessa, Astarte, & the wounded Schreiber in the back seat, that leaves the front passenger seat & someone else to try to squeeze in wherever. Lilith starts the car & shuts her door.*

L"She's right. I have an idea what they did, but there's no going back now."

*She adjusts her mirror, revealing the flickering, orange light starting to build in the house's windows.*

*Eve sits in the front seat, while Tirea squeezes in the back if there is room. Otherwise, she squeezes in next to Eve*

Eve:<...I think we are thinking the same thing.>

Astarte huddled into as small a space as possible and sat quietly, looking out of the window for sign of a police response or anything worse.

*As they drive away, they can see the actual flames flickering inside of the house. Smoke curls out of the chimney. Once they are almost out of view of the house, a window shatters, spraying sparks on the plants below. They catch fire & begin spreading to the nearby forest as smoke blots out the stars above. Schreiber uses the flashlight to inspect her wounds, grimacing at the hole inside of her gushing a steady stream of blood. She does what she can to keep it clamped, but is quickly growing pale. She points to a street with a sign saying a hospital is in half a mile.*

Schreiber<Drop me off out here. I'll limp the rest of the way to the hospital.>

L"Yeah, right. And how do we know you won't betray us? Turn us in, say you tried to stop us but we threatened you."

Schreiber<Are you serious?! Do you know how many self-incriminating questions that would lead to?!>

"If you go there you will get caught," Astarte said flatly. "The police are looking for us, right? If they suspect there was a shootout nearby, and a gunshot victim appears there..."

Tirea:<...The hospital is a death sentence as sure as this wound is. Unless...there's something you aren't telling us.>

<You are idiots. Narrow escapes I can handle, I've been doing them for years. Bleeding to death is another matter.>

*With the bickering as a distraction, Lilith blows right by the street.*

<Stop, already!>

Tirea:<Sorry, I'll be quiet now.>

*She crosses her arms and stares out the window*

Eve:<...Good luck...>

"I don't believe you can 'narrowly escape' while under anesthetic and having stitches pulled through you," Astarte shook her head. "If that's all they have to do to save you. But whatever. Go pull off your entirely inconspicuous trip to the hospital."

*Lilith abruptly breaks, & they are thrown forward while the car squeals. Once they are stopped, she locks the doors & looks back.*

L"Sure, you're free to do whatever you want. Just as soon as you tell us what you've been hiding."

Schreiber<Are you crazy?! If we stay here, we'll ALL be caught!>

L"That's a risk I'm willing to take. The question is, are your secrets worth it?"

Schreiber<There are no secrets! You're just insane!>

L"Careful, don't want to overexert yourself."

*She points to the blood running through the doctor's fingers & pooling below her.*

*Eve turns around to stare at Schreiber. Tirea turns back as well*

Tirea:<...I think it'd probably be best if you talked now and saved yourself the blood. You need it.>

Astarte fidgeted and looked out of the windows for signs of danger again before turning back to Schreiber.

V"Quit being crazy! Drive, drive, DRIVE!"

L"Shut up. We'll hold you down if we have to, so don't even think about going for any weapons."

Schreiber<Rrgh--the mayor! The mayor knows about Ira & the Shadow. He's the head of the conspiracy, but he doesn't know I know!>

L"And you've been feeding people to the Shadow to protect yourself. That's why people keep going missing in the Black Forest. That's why you escaped when they didn't. How you learned so much about it."

Schreiber<What else was I supposed to do?! You've--you've seen-->

*Before she can say anything else, she starts having a coughing fit.*