No Man's Land (Private)

[Muffinsquire]

"Um...alright," Bowen replied reaching forward to take the pot from her. Whatever kind of stew it was inside, it smelled very good. It was Sera's awkwardness that made him feel awkward as well. "Thank you...very much."
"You sure you don't want to come in," Danny asked again. He didn't move any closer, but just sat at the kitchen counter with his own plate. He knew she was alone in her apartment and figured she might like some company. But if she didn't that could be understood as well.
Brigit who was laying on the floor had lifted her head and raised her ears by this time, aware of the stranger at the door.

[WolfumsTheGreat]

Sera looked around Bowen at Danny inside. She wasn't sure why she was being invited in, for she knew she made things awkward and she could only imagine how horrible the atmosphere would be once she stepped inside.
"I-I'm sure," she nodded her head toward him. "U-m e-en joy," she finally spat and then turned to shuffle off back down to her apartment.
At least now she felt as if she had slightly paid him back for picking the lock to her apartment and keeping Lizzie in the marketplace.

[Muffinsquire]

"O...kay..." Bowen muttered as he closed the door and walked the pot over to the stove. He removed the lid and peered inside. It looked very appetizing. "You know, she really is very attractive," he mused. "But her d--- awkwardness kills it for me."
Danny shrugged, not really feeling either way about it. He didn't like that she was so awkward, but he didn't hate her for it either. And Bowen was right, she was very attractive otherwise.
"Want some of this," Bowen asked. "It looks pretty good. I don't think she's trying to poison us."
"Sure," Danny replied.

[WolfumsTheGreat]

Sera sat back down in her apartment, wishing she had enough money to buy a screen. They were very common in households and one could see the news, comedies, movies, and all sorts of things on them. They ran on a rechargable battery that charged everytime one turned it on and they hovered about a foot off whatever surface they were placed on. Sera wouldn't mind having one, for it was times like these that she wanted one.
Instead, she sat on her couch in silence, but listened to the soft beat of the clock, ticking away.

She tried to think of any new books that she hadn't read, but with the little money she had, she couldn't afford any. All the ones in the apartment had probably been reread so many times that the covers were falling off them. Finally, Sera went to busy herself in cleaning up Lizzie's room and then tidying the rest of the apartment.

[Muffinsquire]

After eating an early dinner ( or late lunch ) with nothing better to do, the two young men decided to go out and explore the city a little more. Also Danny insisted that Brigit needed to get out. It was bad for her to stay inside so long, especially since she wasn't used to it. He had also suggested inviting Sera to come with them, thinking just getting out and about might be relaxing. Bowen persuaded him against it though, convinced, himself, that Sera wanted nothing to do with them at the moment and she would only make things awkward.
So they locked up the apartment and went out. Danny wanted to find out where everything was, while Bowen was mainly searching for a good bar to get a drink at, although he continued to forget that he had no money at the moment.

[WolfumsTheGreat]

Sera stayed in her apartment, scrubbing on her hands and knees to try and make the wooden floor spotless. It had been buckling lately and trying to warp itself, so Sera didn't like to get it wet too often, but lately it had been needing it.
She heard the boys when they went out, also tidbits of their conversation.
Whenever she was done cleaning, or at the moment at least, she perched herself on her windowsill to watch the sky as it began to darken. It was then that she noticed that one of the mounds of shantytowns a little ways away was caught up in flames. The flames licked at the bottom and she was more than certain that some bothersome alien had started it.

She grabbed her coat, since normally the nights were very cool and hurried out her apartment, leaving it unlocked because she was in a hurry. She flittered down the stairs and in a few minutes she had landed on the street and was hurrying toward where the fire was. She knew that somewhere in that area was Caroline's house, the person whom Lizzie was staying with. Even if it wasn't the same shantytown, everyone always pulled together to help anyway.
Whenever she arrived at the scene, many people had already gathered to help put out the flames, but it was quickly lapping at the old wood that made up the many homes. People above the flames were crying out with no way to get down as the fire brigade pulled up to help.

[Muffinsquire]

Danny and Bowen had only been walking the streets for a few minutes whenever they noticed a large crowd of people all frantically headed in one direction.
"Is there some sort of party," Bowen asked, intrigued. But his question was suddenly answered whenever a large, red hovercraft zipped by down the street, it's sirens wailing.
"Must be a fire," Danny mused and started down the street after everyone else. He was accustomed to the sense of community and desire to help. There were many wild fires out in the country among the plantations, especially during the hot and dry seasons, so it was only natural for many of the plantation families to get together in order to put it out, so the crops could be spared.

[WolfumsTheGreat]

"Someone needs to head up there with the lifeline while the firemen maintain the fire," one woman remarked and then looked to see Sera.
"Oh Sera! You've done this many times, would you go up there now?" she asked. Sera nodded her head and took the lifeline as she started up inside the building, she had grabbed one of the masks as she went in, running up the stairs.
She looked around, calling out through the smoke and making sure that the fire never licked at her. Once she was well out of range of it, she made it to the highest point in the shanty town and connected the lifeline to the window. Then, she began to gather up all the people.

Running the lifeline wasn't a hard thing to do and it wasn't that uncommon for a normal pereson to do either. The person to do it just needed to be observant, quick, and resourceful. Once the lifeline was teethered to the window, it became phaseable, to where it could phase right though walls and suddenly it appeared on the outside of the building whenever someone tugged on it. Wherever it wasn't being forced through a solid object, it became a solid once more as well and now was a tight cord onto which someone could ride down from the top to the ground safely.

[Muffinsquire]

Danny and Bowen came upon the burning building, keeping their distance since there was already a quite a large crowd around the base anyway. The flames were starting to climb dangerously high, despite the attempts of the fire brigade. Brigit was barking excitedly, skipping about in front and behind the two of them as she watched.
"I hope everyone's alright," Danny muttered, scratching at his bristly jaw, at a loss for what to do. He wanted to help but it appeared that they possibly had all the help they needed.
"Was that Sera who just went inside," Bowen inquired, although DAnny hadn't seen anyone enter the burning building. He shrugged.

[WolfumsTheGreat]

Sera scurried about inside, helping children and adults to the window she had secured as the exit. She searched around every room and even went down close by the flames just to double-check.
The fire brigade ran out of water about twenty minutes into the rescue, so the locals were asked to get buckets and to hurry to the river and back in order to help while the brigade sent for reinforcements. The homes were like a matchbox because they were so old and unkempt.

But it wasn't until about half an hour after she had entered that Sera helped the last person out, then she found a piece of cloth, secured it to the lifeline and slid down the very far way to the ground.

[Muffinsquire]

Eventually Danny and Bowen joined the water procession since they were such a distance from the river. Bowen was slow, not used to this sort of work, but he also seemed to be distracted, almost deep in thought. Danny was steady and constant. He didn't wear out very easily and could also carry several buckets at once, having tethered them to a pole. He also knew the best spots to poor the water so as to prevent the fire from spreading any further.

[WolfumsTheGreat]

Sera saw to all the people that were rescued from the building. She wrapped them all in blankets and got them something to drink while a few other people assisted.
They cleaned the soot off the people's faces and the children's arms and hands. Sera saw to all the women and children while some of the others looked after the men.
The reinforcements were coming and within minutes of their arrival, the fire was out. The help from the people all over the city was a tremendous effort that made it able to quickly put out the fire once the new brigade arrived.

Sera looked around, but noticed that she had never spotted Lizzie. Caroline had probably kept Lizzie inside no doubt and Sera was glad of this. Perhaps Caroline would be able to take care of Lizzie in the future.

[Muffinsquire]

Watching from the sidelines once again, DAnny was glad to see that no one had been hurt during the fire.
"I thought that was Sera," Bowen pointed out, peering over at the woman who was moving amongst those who had been brought down from the building. "She was the one that went inside with the lifeline." He was very surprised for this sort of thing didn't happen very often in his home city, neither were most people so eager to help.
Brigit was still fidgety but now it was mainly because there were so many strange people around and atmosphere was still rather exciting.
"Maybe we should wait until she's done and walk her back to the apartment," Danny suggested.

[WolfumsTheGreat]

Sera saw to most of the people and then a few other women and men helped them to find places to stay for the night since the entire shantytown had been closed for the night, assessments would be made in the morning about what part was safe and what part had to be repaired.
A few of the little girls ran up to hug Sera goodbye and she kneeled down to hug them as well and then give them a goodbye kiss on their foreheads. Most of the little girls in the nighborhood knew Sera well, for she was a well-known babysitter.

Sera bid them all goodnight before turning and starting back toward her apartment, it was then that she realized that she had left the door unlocked and hoped that no looters saw an oppertunity during a tragic event.

[Muffinsquire]

While they waited the two men begna helping here and there where they could although there were more than enough people there to see to the victims. Bowen was still distracted though and now had begun muttering to himself about fires and oxygen. Danny thought for a moment that perhaps his friend had gone mad.
But when everything was done, they were waiting on Sera to see her back to the apartment. Perhaps that wouldn't be a pleasant surprise to her, but once again, Danny preferred to ensure the safety of an acquaintance on their journey home. Bowen had insisted that he was sure the girl could take care of herself, having lived her much longer than them. But home grown chilvalry was just as strong as instinctive stubborness.