The Systems Challenge

If they weren't heading out the next day, Elmo wasn't sure he'd want to be around the others. Either they were dealing with their own unresolved heated emotions from the night before, as in Kim and Elin, or they were more than happy to speculate about what that might mean, what the end results would be, or what might happen in the meantime.

After they started out, it was clear what direction the conversation would take. Although, he still had to deal with some of the topics he'd rather not deal with or even listen to, the movement seemed to require more attention than discussing those topics would allow. Which meant they'd either stop moving for part of the time and catch up after a minute or two, or they'd briefly mention it and move on.

If that wasn't a problem for the discussion of those topics, Elmo figured he'd either go ahead of the group or behind. He'd expect he'd lag behind the entire group simply because he wasn't a pathfinder or a trailblazer, as those would require a better sense of direction in this wilderness. Something that he acknowledged that he lacked even in the city, where it was harder to get lost.

Or at least in Elmo's opinion.

While they continued on, Elmo wasn't sure how much he'd be able to take with the discussions about what happened between Elin and Kim. He would have thought the well would have dried up with what had been discussed the night before, but it would seem that the well was deeper than he'd have thought.

By the time they stopped for lunch, Elmo was starting to think about falling behind everyone, just so he wouldn't have to hear even brief snippets of the discussions about Kim and Elin. Although, at a glance, he could tell that both Kim and Elin were also aware of the discussions, and Kim, at least, wasn't happy about it. Although, he could also see that Elin wasn't taking it well either, though her reaction was a good bit more muted than Kim's.

After they started out again, Elmo let the others get ahead of him by at least fifty feet before he started matching the pace set. That way he wouldn't have to deal with overhearing about that topic, largely because he really didn't understand why the others were still talking about it. After all, it wasn't like it was anything that helped them out or hurt them in general. If anything, discussing it incessantly as they were was hurting them more than anything, since he wasn't sure what would happen when Kim reached her limit and from the fact that he doubted the others were looking for signs of what might be the creature they were supposed to capture.

However, one thing that surprised him was that Elin also started to lag behind as well, getting closer and closer to him as they moved along in the afternoon heat. He hadn't expected her to end up falling to the back of the group with him, so he wasn't sure what to say when she fell in step next to him.

He couldn't say how long they were walking along before Elin spoke to him. He was pretty sure that it was at least five minutes, but it could also have been closer to half an hour.

"What do you think the point of them talking so much about me and Kim is?" Elin asked, sounding rather troubled.

Elmo didn't immediately respond. He wasn't sure what the point would be, nor did he really understand it himself. Maybe if he did, he wouldn't feel the need to have fallen to the back like he was. Although, he knew that saying as much wouldn't help Elin out at all.

In the end, he figured he should just be honest that he didn't have a clue.

"I really have no idea," Elmo replied, unable to hold in a sigh. "I had thought that it'd been discussed as much as it could have been last night, but I guess others are still able to come up with something or other to talk about it."

"It just feels like what I feel about it doesn't matter," Elin said, sounding a little depressed. "Like I'm some spectacle for the others to just look at."

Elmo wondered if Elin would have preferred to use the word 'gawk at,' but didn't feel like brining it up. He figured she wouldn't be so happy to have her words analyzed so much at this moment. Though, Elmo couldn't help but wonder how he'd gotten involved in a conversation about the very subject he'd wanted to avoid to begin with.

Although, it was on a different level than the others, as Elin was merely trying to deal with it herself. Yet, Elmo was pretty sure that it'd essentially be a distinction without a point. As the topic still is the same, no matter which point is being discussed.

"If it helps, I don't understand it either," Elmo said, wondering if his talking with Elin was essentially becoming a part of the problem Elin was having with the situation in general. "I came back here so I wouldn't have to listen to any of it."

"Wish I hadn't said anything about it," Elin said, making Elmo wonder what she might be thinking of at that moment.

"You mean about what you said to Kim last night?" Elmo asked. "I'm not sure you have much-"

Elmo stopped talking as the ground started rumbling again. Not only was this like it had been a couple days ago, but with him walking when it started, he nearly fell to the ground. Elin certainly did.

"Wh-what's going on?" Elin asked, like she wasn't aware of it.

Elmo opened his mouth to say when there was a really undefinable loud sound that raised a giant cloud of either smoke or dust in the distance to the south of them. It was clearly far away, but at the same time, it felt as if it was right next to them with how strong the rumbling was.

"Uhhhhh-I think that's what's going on," Elmo said, feeling like he should have been able to be more articulate with his response, but unable to think of how to have gone about it in the first place right then.

Even with the loud sound that Elmo felt like it was a cross between crashing rocks and an explosion, though he wasn't completely sure if that's the best way to describe it, the rumbling didn't seem ready to stop. The ground continued to feel like it was getting ready to split apart on the atomic level, where it wouldn't be able to hold anything or anyone anymore.

Elmo was able to last another minute before he had to sink to his knees or fall over himself. He wasn't sure what might be causing the rumbling, but he still had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. He wasn't sure if he should be worried about it or not, but he was confident that whatever was causing the ground to shake like it was, wasn't going to be a good thing for them.

"Let's catch up to the others," Elmo suggested, starting to crawl towards the others.

"How would we do that?" Elin whined, making Elmo look at her.

Elin looked like she was in a near state of panic. She was clearly not in a state of mind to think rationally. Although, he also couldn't help but wonder if she was the more rational one in that particular situation, between the two of them.

"Simple," Elmo replied, not sure if he should be saying anything in the first place. Especially as he fell from another tremor causing the ground to 'jump' beneath him. "Just crawl like this. If you feel like you're going to fall, just fall to the ground completely until you feel like you're stable again. Then start again."

"O-okay," Elin murmured, as she started to move. Her arms and legs rather shaky.

Elmo wasn't sure what might happen as a result of this, but he was at least confident that the ground cloud of dust or smoke, or whatever it was in the distance wasn't going to turn out to be anything pleasant. That if they didn't reach the others, they might be in real trouble when they finally learned what it was that was causing the ground to shake like it was.

At that point, Elmo let Elin pass from his awareness. It took almost everything he had to keep focused on just moving forward and towards the others. He didn't have any to spare on making sure that Elin was able to work things out for herself. He could only continue to move while ensuring he was stable enough that the rumbling wouldn't cause him to fall again.

When he reached the others, he could see that they were just as uneasy about what was going on as he was. While he was confident it was them that were shaking, it looked like the sun might be shaking as well. Like it might fall out of the sky before the rumbling on the ground would subside.

Elmo closed his eyes as she laid on the ground, hoping this would end sooner rather than later.