RADIO

chapter 21

“This place is so cool” Monty chuckled, looking over all the organized weapons. 

Dibbs gasped dramatically, “Explosives” whilst holding up a line of firecrackers. “Put that down,” Monty ordered. Jane peered into the room, “woah” she gasped. 

“Hey you're here!” Dibbs smiled. 

“What did i say?” Duchess asked, haze walking behind her into the room. Duchess crossed her arms over her chest as Dibbs stuffed the explosives into her bag, “theyre fireworks, its not like they’ll explode in my backpack” Dibbs scoffed. 

“Okay” Duchess huffed, letting her hands fall to her sides. She finally took notice of the shop. 

Haze and Jane were already looking through the large glass table with very few pistols displayed. “I dont think we need any of this” Duchess mumbled. Haze scoffed, “come on, you can't say these aren't cool” he held up a dark pistol.

“Make sure those arent loaded” Monty suggested. 

“I know, '' Haze answered him. Duchess looked around, admiring the blades that were hung up on the wall. “Swords, switchblades, daggers” she mumbled to herself. Then one caught her eye. “Hey whats this?” She asked herself. 

Behind her the others continued looking for items, Monty getting his hands on a crossbow. Dibbs and Jane looked at him with stars in their eyes as if a celebrity walked through the door or as if he was holding up the shiniest rock one could find. 

Duchess grabbed the large pointed blade off the wall and admired it, doing her best to not cut her hand on the large blade. There were attachments on top of them. She furrowed her brows a bit and put her forearm in the clasp. It buckled around her wrists and she held up the blade easily. 

“Woah look at these!” She gasped with sudden excitement. 

“Cool!” Jane gasped, running over to Duchess as she showed them off. 

“You guys got the cool ones” she whined. “It’s okay, i can work on something for ya” Duchess said, going to pat her on the head but Jane ducked away, “dont stab me now” she laughed. 

“Im gonna have to get used to these” Duchess laughed. 

“You look like wasabi from Big Hero” Jane playfully insulted her. Duchess and her broke out into laughter. “Okay you two hyenas, lets get the stuff and get out of here before we attract wanderers” Haze smiled. 

Whilst they packed away the needed weapons Rider and Tris were exploring the hotel they had decided to stay at. 

"You sure this room is better?" Tris asked, following the blonde woman down the hall. "I'm positive" she replied. They stopped at a door and found what looked to be a suite. 

It was almost untouched if it wasn't for the scattered items in the bathroom or messed up sheets in the main room that connected to the kitchen. The room has the same gold and blue theme as the other one. The couch and two beds were white and the walls were a royal blue. The natural orange tone settled into the room from the sun setting from In Front of the balcony that stuck through the glass windows. 

"They're gonna love this place!" Rider sighed blissfully as she opened the glass doors and walked out into the short balcony. 

Tris tucked her hands in her pockets, "it's pretty nice" she shrugged, joining her on the balcony. She peered over the side and saw a hoard of wanderers down below them. Her brows furrowed and she turned away, "gross" she mumbled. 

Rider hummed in response, "yeah" she scrunched her nose a bit, heading back inside. 

"Let's see if we can get anything from Everett! We haven't heard from him in a while" Rider perked up and threw her bag down on the large gray table. She shuffled through it and grabbed her radio from inside it. 

"Which channel did he say he'd be on?" She asked. 

Tris joined her and peered over her shoulder, "he said he would use the same channel as we do" she informed. Rider shuffled through the channels, hearing nothing but static.

"There y'all are" Duchess entered the room. 

"Hey" Rider greeted, not looking up from her tech. Haze, Dibbs and Monty were in tow behind her and admired the room. Dibbs immediately put their bag down and threw themself onto one of the beds. 

Monty joined him and let out a sigh of relief. 

"Ay! Save one of those for me" Duchess yelped, running and throwing herself onto one of the beds and claimed it. "Oh my God this feels amazing" Haze exclaimed with a satisfied expression and tone. 

"Tell me about it" Duchess sighed. 

She tucked her face into the blanket and let out a sigh. Then she noticed Rider messing with the radio. "What are you doing?" She asked. 

"Trying to see if there's anything new with Everett, it's been a few weeks I think since he left for that base back in Colorado" rider told her. Duchess propped herself up on her elbows, "anything?" She asked. 

Rider just shook her head. 

Monty sat up, "I'm sure he's fine, let's just relax for a bit, it's not everyday we find a suite all to ourselves" he said, rolling his shoulder a bit. 

"Agreed" everyone spoke in unison. 

Rider set her radio down and fell back on the soft couch next to the beds. "Are you sure you don't wanna share?" Duchess asked, noticing that Rider would be on the sofa while the rest of them were in beds. 

"I'm good" she brushed it off. 

"Suit yourself" Tris shrugged, crawling into the bed where dibbs and Monty sat. 

Night fell rather quickly. 

Dibbs, Monty and tris all fell asleep in the same bed and rocky slept at the foot of the tall bed. Brownie decided to join Rider on the couch and curled up on her stomach while rider slept. 

Although Duchess was still awake. 

She was sitting with her legs crossed in the bed. Haze noticed and sat up beside her. "What's up?" He asked. 

"I'm tired but I can't sleep" she huffed. 

"Me too" Haze murmured, resting his chin on her shoulder. "What's keeping you up?" She asked, looking over at him. "Well, today would've been my little sister's birthday," he said. 

"Yeah, I remember," she said. 

"What about you?" Haze asked. 

"I don't know…I've always knew I'd be able to support myself on my own because of my family but now that they're not here….I don't know what to do" she confessed. Haze could see small reflections of lights in her eyes from the bright moon that peered through the windows. Tears settled in her eyes and Haze couldn't help but to fight off his own. 

"We'll be okay" he said in an attempt to comfort the dark haired woman. 

"I know we will, I just miss them" Duchess said in a quiet tone. Haze linked his hand with hers and tightened his grip. She returned the strength and rest her head on his. 

"Wanna get some rest?" Duchess asked. 

"We can try, but if we don't that's okay too" Haze answered. 

"That's fine by me" she smiled softly and kissed his head sweetly. Haze smiled and linked his arms around her torso, pulling her close. "You know I love you right?" He asked. 

"Of course" she replied. 

"How much? Show me with your hands" he ordered with a playful tone. Duchess lit up and stretched her arms out as far as she could, "this much" she grinned. 

"That's so much love" haze exaggerated, dragging her down into the bed as she wrapped her arms around his neck with a laugh. "All for you" she said with a smile.