< ☆ Lucas Miranda ☆ > - Blog Posts
"Not stupid. Just an unfortunate honest answer."
He looks down at the ankle in question. It's still aching, though not terribly.
"It's fine. Becca wishes I'd stay off it for a bit longer, but I've got a job to do."
He nods in sympathy. After helping Rae on the morgue side, Lucas can only imagine how bad the infirmary is hurting.
"I know Ana is trying to figure out what we can do. Hopefully, we can keep the inventories steady for a bit."
"stupid question, hm?" she asked, a wry smile on her lips before glancing down at his foot. "how's the ankle?" she asks in turn before a long sigh makes it way from her lips, wincing just so at the reminder of how many they'd lost. "yeah, we're alright. took a few hits to the supplies from the storm but i think we'll manage."
Lucas huffs a humorless laugh.
"I was going out of my mind and trying to make a sprained ankle heal faster."
He looks down at said ankle, still aching, but more or less fine. He kicks some small rubble off the side of the road.
"Is there anything I can help you with? Leadership wants a list of repairs or supplies that people need."
"appreciate, yeah," she agrees with a nod. in this place, all she knew was to enjoy the day light. things came out at night and the day time was the only time they were safe, at least as safe as they could be here. she looked back at lucas, face blank as she takes in his question. "fine, it was just another night." only it wasn't, it lasted longer than any she's seen before but she wasn't one to talk about the things that go through her mind during the nights. "what about you?" she didn't particularly care, but she knows it's polite to return questions.
Lucas gives him a dubious look, not really believing him at his word but not really able to call him a liar either.
Then he eyes the bench, wary. If he sits, he's not sure he'll stand back up any time soon. But getting off his feet sounds so nice.
He sighs and settles down next to Muz.
"If I fall asleep, you better wake me up," he says with a relieved sigh.
'Lucas, baby, what d'ya mean, man? Full twelve hours, me. Sleep the whole night through.' Twelve hours total in the four months since landing in this town, a bit more likely. But he lets a smile slip. 'Need your beauty sleep, man. Come sit for a bit. Gimme company.'
Susan Sontag, from “Reborn: Journals and Notebooks, 1947-1963″
Lucas rubs his eyes.
"Good morning to you too, Muz. For your information, no. How about you?"
He nods to Muz's matching bags under his eyes. Then he sips his coffee.
open, town square
Muz squints up at the washed-out sky, the sun barely breaking through a layer of gray clouds, casting a pale light over the town square. The place looks almost normal in the daytime, like the night hadn’t clawed at it. He watches a few people drift while he leans against a bench, idly tracing a crack in the wood with his thumb, his gaze darting on occasion, wary glances.
A face crosses his line of sight, and Muz straightens, raising a hand in a lazy wave. ‘Hey,’ he calls out, his voice cutting through the quiet. ‘Get any sleep last night?’ He nods to the shadows under their eyes, a half-smile tugging at his mouth.
Lucas sighs. He'd gotten held up at the station, but he can only blame himself.
"I know, I just... maybe some company isn't a bad idea?"
He pulls a chair up and slumps into it with a huff.
"How was your day? Liking any of the new people?"
open to all. community kitchen.
She staid behind after dinner, wrapping up the dishes, sorting the rations. The place was getting dark and it won't be long before sun set into another night. Another living nightmare. -- Bruna smoked her joint, not bothering to air out the small room in the back as she settled into a cozy chair made out of old leather car seat and cracked open a book. "No food, dinner was wrapped an hour ago -- you should get home it'll get dark soon." she doesn't look up, and her tone is as monotone as it can get. "You could stay here and keep me company if you want but, I am not in my 'fun' mood today so I'd advise against it."
Lucas actually pouts and slumps deeper into this seat. He feels like a reprimanded child, and he deserves it, but he doesn't have to like it.
But he doesn't have to make Becca suffer with him.
"I don't suppose you're also a meteorologist and can explain this storm at all?"
finally, he's convinced. becca sighs in relief, knowing that it was difficult for lucas to ignore his sense of duty. it wouldn't have been much longer before she tied him to a table if he had continued the argument. she tries to give a reassuring smile, but remains stern when she speaks. "you'll have to."
she returns to her own seat, watching as he struggles with the gravity of his situation and comes to accept it. "when the storm is done, the first place you're going is to the infirmary. you need a real treatment and whatever they say, is what you're going to do. until then, stay off it." and if he's lucky, they might even have crutches available.
Lucas relaxes once he sees it's Marama. He walks to stand beside her, tilting his head up to join her in basking in the sun.
"Really makes you appreciate the little things, doesn't it," he says after a few silent beats.
He's aware of Marama's situation. It's sad and while he tries not to let it affect how he interacts with her, it does color everything about her in specific colors and light.
He can't help but ask, "How are you after last night?"
standing in the middle of the road, looking up at the sky, marama drops her head to the side when she hears lucas call out to her. always so serious. "all good officer," she calls back. "just enjoying the sunlight while i can." in her sixteen years here, she has never seen a storm or a night as long as the last, if this was going to become a regular thing, she wanted to get as much sun as she can.
He briefly considers putting her into a headlock just to show how easy it would be to catch her, but he's honestly too tired to put in the effort. And she's right about the rationing. He's probably just using it as an excuse to avoid his personal problems rattling in his head right now.
"By that logic, we all worry too much," he replies. "It's our jobs to worry too much. So the people who can't do our jobs don't have to."
He sees and even feels the edge in her smile.
"This was an unexpected event. By all accounts, they broke the rules we thought were in place."
He leans against a table, crossing his arms to show he's in serious mode now. Not ready for the emotional talk quite yet. At least not until Ana is.
Anastasia lets out a quiet huff, the corners of her mouth twitching into a smirk. "A nap sounds nice, but you’d have to catch me first." She rolls her neck, feeling the tension stretch and settle, then flicks her gaze to the horizon as if sleep is a luxury meant for someone else.
"I’ll sleep when things stop breaking." She exhales through her nose, the humor slipping just slightly. "Besides, if you lock me up, who’s gonna keep you from rationing those supplies into oblivion?"
Her smile softens, but there’s an edge to it—one Lucas would recognize instantly. "I’m fine, Lu. You worry too much." But they both know that’s not exactly true. Not anymore.
He's nursing a barely healed sprained ankle, his town is basically in shambles, his ex/friend is going through an emotional collapse and trying to hide it, his friends are struggling to lead this town of scared people, and all Lucas wants to do is curl up onto his bed and cry. So...
"As good as can be expected," he says, trying to keep his tone as neutral as possible. "Lots of things to do and people to help. How about you? How's the non-dead side of the infirmary?"
"right," carrying out the syllables a little too long, erin sent lucas a grin and tightened her grip on the rather large branch. on three, she pulled and kept pulling until it was back out of the way where it needed to be. dropping it onto the rather large pile of branches and debris from the storm, she sighed and wiped her hands on her worn jeans. "how are you holding up?" she normally wasn't one to make conversation but it seemed right to ask him now that he had helped her.
Lucas swallows. He wants to read between the lines, search past the casual tone.
But he doesn't.
He kisses Rae's forehead, the last intimate gesture he'll allow himself today, then steps back.
"Stay safe tonight," he says, trying to keep the sad tremble out of his voice. "I'll pick you up in the morning."
He walks backward, keep their hands connected until he couldn't anymore.
as they approached his house, rae's steps slowed, mirroring lucas'. the weight of the day's events hung heavy in the air between them. he found himself reluctant to let go of his hand.
"i… i don't know," rae admitted, his voice soft. his breath caught in his throat. he wanted lucas to stay, desperately. but he also knew the complexities of their relationship, the raw emotions that still lingered.
"you don't have to stay," he said, trying to make his tone sound casual. "i'll be fine. just… it's been a long day. and… you know." he shrugged.
Lucas slumps into the chair, a frustrated growl escaping him.
"Fuck, Becca! I can't just... fuck!"
He puts his face in his hands and tries not to cry from his frustration. So many people could be out there; Jim, Ana, Rae, even people who don't know about the creatures. Newcomers wander in all the time. Not in as big as a group as recently but still.
"Will it at least be okay in the morning? If the storm let's up by then, I have to be able to help."
she knows he's eager to leave and lets him stand, holding her hands out for support. but as quickly as he stood, he's back in the seat again. "well, that proves it. a sprain like that- if not properly healed- will weaken your ankle, forever." becca didn't like having to be dramatic with patients, but sometimes people just don't want to accept the severity without it.
"a job you can't do right now, and if you try to push through it, you won't be able to do it right ever again." she almost wants to push him over and make sure he stays seated for good, but keeps her hands out anyway when it looks like he wants to try again. "just sit your ass down, lucas. don't be an idiot."
Lucas shuts the book so Cherry can't read his notes.
"Can anyone vouch for your whereabouts then? It would've been between 10:30–11."
Honestly, Lucas does have bigger fish to fry, but it's his job to help everyone feel safe. If someone is burglarizing other people, that will just make a bad situation worse.
He's not sure if Cherry is the actual culprit. She just has the most priors involving theft, and they did accuse her, so he has to be thorough.
CHERRY SIGHS AS SHE LEANS A HIP AGAINST THE DOORFRAME . her expression scrunches with it . " i mean, yeah, you prolly definitely got bigger fish to fry than me ." charlie would imagine so at least but what the hell does she know about being a cop ? all she's sure about is that someone will probably try to rope her into helping in some way today, and as reluctant as she usually was she knew she'd probably give in for at least a little bit . after all, they all got royally fucked by the storm . so when lucas shoots her an unimpressed look her expression only twists . " who the fuck said that ?" she moves as if to peer at his notebook . " i was workin' yesterday morning !"
Lucas laughs. "God, I'd love some real Tabasco."
He nods at the suggestion.
"I'll run it by Jim, Cam, and Santi later. Nothing's gonna be perfect."
He looks at her, studying her body language.
"When did you last sleep? Do I need to lock you in a cell so you'll take a nap?"
Anastasia forced a half-smile at Lucas’s grimace, the weight of Cameron’s name still lingering between them like a storm cloud that refused to pass. “Yeah, she’s still here,” Anastasia echoed, her voice softer, more resigned. “Lucky might not be the word I’d use, though.”
She folded her arms, glancing at the supplies between them. The mention of Kina sent a flicker of something painful through her chest, but she pushed it down. There wasn’t room for that now—not when so much needed doing.
Lucas’s weak chuckle at the old joke gave her an unexpected sense of warmth, though—a sliver of something familiar amid the chaos. She allowed herself a real smile this time, brief but sincere. “If one ever does show up, I hope it has coffee. Real coffee, not that powdered crap.”
She crouched down next to him, her knees protesting the movement. “We’ll figure out the rations. We always do. Maybe we set up a system—rotate who gets what, make it feel like less of a gamble.” She paused, exhaling slowly. “Not that anyone’s going to love that idea.”
Lucas returns the look and squeeze. Rae looks better than he did at the infirmary. Maybe it's the setting sun, or maybe it's just the relief after finally crying.
He chuckles. "Well, glad to know I rank above corpses as a conversationalist."
They reach the walkway up to Rae's house and they slow their steps as they approach the door. Almost like they both don't want this to end any sooner.
"Will you be okay on your own tonight? I could stay. Sleep on the couch."
“and you said it anyway,” rae half-muttered under his breath. he gave lucas a look, something between exasperation and fondness, as he squeezed his hand. then he focused back on his house in the distance.
“i guess i could use the help,” he relented. “plus it's hard to hold up a conversation with a corpse.” it would also cut the time in half, logistically speaking. he just hated asking for help...and accepting it. he'd been that way since he was a kid, even before losing his parents.
Lucas chuckles and walks around to the other side of the branch.
"Lucky for you, I'm a nice guy that loves to help."
He gets his hands into position.
"On three. One. Two. Three."
erin takes note of how it feels like she's just getting splinters in her fingers, and not making a lot of progress with moving this fallen tree branch out of the way. ears perked, still feeling the effects of the storm and how its put everyone on edge, she glances up and takes note of lucas walking towards her. "yeah," she says, pulling still on the heavy branch, "i don't think i'm doing much good alone with this one."
Mary Oliver, from a poem titled "Six Recognitions of the Lord," featured in Devotions: Poems
Lucas feels a slight ache in his chest as they walk hand in hand. He didn't realize how much he missed this. Walking with Rae. Being with Rae.
"Hey," he says, soft but firm. "You are important."
They turn a corner, and they can see their houses. Only a couple of other residents between them. It had been a little awkward at first after the breakup, but then they eased into comfortable. Being close was comforting.
"I know you can. I just want to help like I used to. Moving bodies around. I saw how many you still had to do. That will definitely take forever on your own."
for most of the walk he couldn't stop looking down at his hands, constantly making sure the blood hadn't returned. that it was just a figment of his imagination. sometimes rae wondered if it was the town or his own sanity slipping.
it's ok. it wasn't, but having lucas' hand in his helped quiet the constant urge to check. he spent the rest of the walk relatively fine.
“luc, i don’t want to keep you from more important things,” he protested. "and don't say what i know you're going to say. i can handle it on my own, today was just...tough."
"Trust me, Cher. There are much better things I'd rather do this morning."
They're still working on recovering from the storm. The only reason any of the sheriff's or deputies have gotten sleep is because the alternative is sleeping in their offices at night, and they all agree that that's almost as bad as facing one of the creatures in the middle of the night.
Lucas pulls out his note pad.
"Says here you stole some bottles from Lally's yesterday morning right before the town meeting."
He looks up and gives her an unimpressed expression.
STATUS : closed for @patroclusblossom ! LOCATION : the motel !
CHERRY BLINKS AT THE SIGHT OF HIM . once and then twice before her face scrunches in honest confusion . " the fuck did i do ?" cherry would say that the question was understandable all things considered . after all, she only ever really saw lucas for one reason and one reason only . but even know as cherry wracks her brain she can't imagine what he'd be bringing her in for . she tries to think back, trying to consider what she's done in the past few days that she might be getting caught out for now . she's coming up empty, but frankly, it's been a long couple of days . she can't be expected to remember all the shit she does . she's not a fuckin' computer . " i didn't do shit, luke ." a bewildered twist of her expression . " and haven't you got better things to do than hover over me ? aren't we in a crisis or whatever ?"
Lucas looks up and smiles at Ana, which quickly turns to a grimace at the mention of Cameron. Lucas has heard all about that rocky relationship, and he knows even making sure the town is okay isn't enough to fully distract from that.
"At least she's still here. Not everyone got so lucky. We found Kina and... yeah, I'm gonna check up on Rae later."
He looks back down at the supplies.
"We're okay for now. I just don't know how best to ration anything in case something like this happens again. Is it too much to ask for a semi-truck full of survival supplies to come into town?"
He gives a weak chuckle at the old joke they've shared probably a hundred times in the years since he became a sheriff.
The sky feels too bright for what last night was. It shouldn’t be this quiet, this deceptively calm. Anastasia pulls her coat tighter, as if that could keep out the weight of exhaustion. Her hands still smell faintly of rain and the damp clothes she sorted, her mind circling back to Cameron more times than she’d like. She finds Lucas by the sheriff’s post, bent over a table littered with supplies—medical kits, rope, lantern oil. Seeing his familiar face pulls a tired smirk from her, brief and fleeting. “Hey,” she says, stepping up beside him. She breathes out slowly, "I just came from Colony House." Her words are low but steady, like it’s a confession that only Lucas can hear. "Saw Cameron." She waits a beat, rubbing a hand over her face as the memory settles like stones in her gut. "It went... like it always does." Her voice softens, brushing against old wounds. "She’s holding it together. But she's fine, thankfully." The silence between her and Lucas is easy, a quiet understanding built over years of shared burdens. She glances down at the supplies, her gaze flickering across the bottles and bandages with the detached focus of someone always on edge. “How bad is it? I know we lost some people... How're we on supplies?” she asks finally, her voice edged with exhaustion. @patroclusblossom
Lucas walks Rae outside. The sun is starting to set so they don't have too long to get home.
He notices Rae keeps glancing at his own hands, he takes one of Rae's in his.
"It's okay," he says. He doesn't know what Rae is seeing, but he knows he can calm the images down, even just briefly.
They hurry to the residential area.
"I'll tell Jim that I'm going to help you tomorrow," Lucas says. He did it before Kina. He wasn't good by any means, but he could follow directions. "Hopefully, we can get everything done tomorrow."
rae's breath caught in his throat at lucas' gesture, a simple kiss to the top of his head, but it was enough to send a jolt of emotion through him. he nodded, his grip on the other loosening, and walked back to the examination room.
it didn't take long before his hands were submerged in water, desperately scrubbing to wash away the visible remnants of death. but despite his best efforts, the blood seemed to cling to his skin, refusing to wash away. he scrubbed harder, fingers digging in, and still it remained. he shook his head, his eyes wild and unfocused. "it won't come off," he muttered to himself.
ready? a voice cut through, and rae glanced up, his eyes focusing on lucas' reflection in the mirror. when he looked back down, the blood was…gone.
"…ready," he echoed, turning around as he dried his hands. he threw the towel towards the counter behind him, not caring where it landed. "let's go."
Lucas lifts his hands and offers a smile to Lena as he approaches.
"Sorry, though I guess it's better than your goose being cooked."
He comes up and takes a pamphlet to look over it. He wants to laugh at it honestly. It's earnest, though maybe too optimistic for some people.
Instead he smiles and hands it back.
"I'm sure some of the newcomers will appreciate these. But why are you going now and not just bringing them in the morning? It's getting late."
Sometimes she forgets how close to night fall it gets. How anxious others are as the orange hues linger across the sky. For Lena, it’s the only moment of peace she’s able to find. When everyone is asleep— or too afraid to listen, she sits by the window and watches. It’s her own secret. It’s the only thing that’s hers. Still, the officers voice makes her jump. The pitch, and immediacy of it, causing her to flinch. “You nearly scared the goose outta’ me!” Her hands clutched her chest, bending over to let out a breath, before straightening. She’s holding a bunch of pamphlets. Little things she made for the newcomers, something might’ve thought it was useless— but it was the only thing that helped her feel normal. Hi welcome to Oblitus, where anybody can be somebody. Only lately, it was hard to believe it now more than ever. “I was just taking these to the dining hall— figured I could pass them out for breakfast tomorrow.”
With his ankle now secure, he slowly moves to stand on it. It's just a sprain. It can't be that ba-
"Shit!"
He falls back onto his ass, relieving the pressure from his ankle. How is that only a sprain?
"Doesn't matter if they understand," he grits through the ebbing pain. "It's still my job."
He tries to stand again.
she rolls her eyes; sometimes the pain is more convincing. "alright, let's try it." becca stands and goes behind the bar, hoping for anything that could work. everything's a little messy, but she manages to pull out a couple of washcloths from behind a box. at least they smell clean.
"you won't be useful to anyone out there if you're limping along, too." with a handful of barspoons and folded towels, lucas' ankle is barely held in place as she finishes the knots. it won't do much if he's out running around. "jim will understand- everyone will."
"So fucked," Lucas agrees, some heat behind his words. "And all we can do is react. We don't have any way of actually taking action. We're so fucked here."
He grabs the bottle from Adam and pours himself another glass that he downs in two gulps.
"And even leadership can't do anything because they know fuck all like the rest of us."
"I don't think it's about revenge. They probably feed on fear or torture or some shit, it's like water to them I...I don't know. I just wish we knew how they really functioned, wish we knew there were some genuine rules to this. What if tomorrow they start running? What if the talismans stop working? What if all of this is just them pretending...letting us feel 'safe' until our guard is low enough. for them to 'strike'? We need to be prepared....but we weren't even prepared for this....for today. It's fucked."
"Of course," Lucas says, kissing the top of Rae's head. "You go clean up."
He slowly let's go once Rae's grip loosens then turns to push the cart. The door creaks open and he steps into the dimly lit storage space. They manage to make it cold enough that it doesn't smell like hot rotting flesh. Just regular dead bodies. He's spent enough time in here around Rae that it doesn't bother him as much anymore.
He slides the cart in place then looks around. The blanket covering Kina has slipped off her face so Lucas puts it back. Then he slides this body next to hers.
He flips the light as he leaves, hurrying back into the examination room. He steps up next to Rae at the sink and washes his hands.
"Ready?"
rae's sobs racked his body, a release of the tension he had been holding for so long. too long. with anyone else he might have felt exposed, but he didn't feel that with lucas. his arms found his way around him, holding on like rae would disappear if he let go. stubbornness had been lost, this time he nodded against luc's shoulder.
"we — we can go. can you just put the cart inside?" he asked, voice barely above a whisper. "she’s in there. i can't look...not again." could he stomach it? absolutely. but that didn't stop the pain. rae couldn't detach himself from all feelings like he did with the other bodies.
Lucas let's out a small wet laugh.
"That's actually really comforting."
He wipes his face and stands up straight. He turns to face the man.
"I'm Lucas," he says, holding out a hand. "One of the sheriff's. You're Hollis right?"
The mention of the blood trail sends a chill down Hollis' spine, but he tries not to let it show. Instead, he steps a little closer, careful not to get too close, but enough to feel present. "I'm sorry," he murmurs.
"I don't think...you ever really get to say goodbye. Not in a way that feels right, anyway." His gaze drifts back to the grave. "But...maybe that means they're still here, with you. Somehow."
It wasn't exactly comforting, but, it was the only thing he could think to offer. The same uncertain, fragile connection that he clung to himself.