Information Gathering

Who: Corey and Maddy
Where: Tunnels
When: Late Afternoon

Roy hadn't been at the garage when Maddy went by right after the curious talk with Marian. Roy not being at work (the other employees hadn't seen him) had Maddy's concern going up a notch. She checked the park, Marian's boarding house (in case they'd passed one another by accident), and anywhere else she could think of that Roy could sometimes be found. She wasn't finding him.

"No need to panic," Maddy coached herself when she went back to the theater to change into her regular street clothes of some slacks and shirt. She grabbed the extra bottle of cough medicine as well as some pain killers she'd lifted and put them in her little shoulder bag and off to the library she went.

Maddy never went in the tunnels, no matter how often she said she should. Sometimes she'd get ready to head down and realize that maybe today wasn't the best day. There had been too much rain. It might be too cold. It might be too hot. There was no one else to go down for her though, not this time. Besides, Corey was still recovering she was sure and while she really didn't know the other girl, it didn't mean that she didn't care at all. Hence the medicine in bag.

She loitered around the entrance for a little bit, hidden in the back of the library before climbing in. It was taking her some time to adjust to the dim light and the fact that there was echoing made listening out for things difficult, since she didn't have two working ears.

Corey had been told that there was an intruder wandering about. And one people generally recognized, so they just kind of watched her, and waited for Corey to show up and take care of it. Making her way through the tunnels, she spotted her, and she slowed her steps til she was within speaking distance. "You know you're not meant to be down here." she said, though her tone wasn't threatening. "What's going on?" she asked, assuming there was some reason and DG wasn't just looking for a random thrill.

Maddy gave a start when Corey just appeared out of the shadows into the dim light filtering in from a grate. Melting out of the shadows. Nifty trick. "I came to see you," she said, wondering about Corey's choice of words. Not meant to be down there as that it wasn't her business to be, or had certain boys told her that if Corey ever saw her down there, she was to be sent back. Although Maddy knew better than to think that Corey would take orders from anyone, she figured Corey would probably agree on that particular sentiment. "A friend of mine has gone missing and I brought some things for you," Maddy continued carefully. She wasn't sure who might be listening and she wasn't going to ask about physical conditions when someone might try hurt Corey over it.

"Who's missing?" she asked. Though she could already guess. "If it's who I'm thinking of...he's gone." she told Maddy. "Came down a few days ago, just disappeared pretty deep. People don't come back from there, if they survive." And that was a big 'if'. The people who did live that deep were ones who'd not ventured anywhere near the surface in years. People who no longer quite understood what 'humanity' meant. Animals, a lot of them.

"This tall, kind of this kicked puppy look to him, brown hair? Lived at the old bank." Was there a tunnel entrance there? Maddy thought there was but she couldn't remember. Her shoulders slumped some as she figured Corey was indeed talking about Roy. It would explain why she couldn't find him at the usual haunts. If he survived. Maddy leaned against the damp wall and rubbed her face. Wonderful.

Corey nodded. "That's him." she confirmed. "He went down there a few days ago. No word since. But there never really is." she told Maddy, because she didn't want to go giving out false hope. That just wasn't something she could bring herself to do. She didn't want to make anything harder, either, but yeah. There was no use in telling someone something to make them feel better if the news wasn't going to get any better later. It would just delay the pain.

"Guess I should've expected something like that," Maddy said softly and reached into her shoulder bag to pull out the paper bag with things for Corey. "I just wish things hadn't gone the way they did before hand." She took a couple steps forward and held out the bag. It felt awkward to say that and she cleared her throat. "How're your ribs?"

Corey didn't have commentary on how things went. It wasn't her business and she didn't know what had happened between the two, period. So, she didn't do anything on that score. She did think that clearly something had driven the guy underground, but frankly, people just did that sometimes, in her experience. There was a whole world of people who'd been driven underground. Driven away from whatever was going on above. "They're fine." she answered the question. "And you don't owe me anything." she added. "If it's what I think it is, I know someone else who'd benefit. You know who."

There were only two people Maddy could think of, one who was meant to be dead. "I haven't seen Ethan in days," Maddy said. "Not since Sunday when all that fighting was going on. He was really weird. Not in a 'I'm in trouble' way, but just... he spent a lot of money and was making me uncomfortable. And..." Dodge. She could've been talking about him too. "I've got things together for them too. But you can either use this stuff or someone else who needs it can." She wasn't trying to insult Corey's ability to get supplies for the tunnels, she was just trying to be helpful.

Corey hadn't seen him in too long either. She was worried about him. She never went that long without seeing him. But now she had. She didn't say it, though. Instead, she nodded, then finally took what Maddy was giving her. "Thank you." she said. Whatever it was, it would see use.

Maddy nodded. "Your welcome." She'd give Corey a bit of a smile but she wasn't sure how to act around Corey. The two of them had never really forged much of a friendship or even much of an acquaintances-ship either. "I'm sure he's fine. There's that job at the mill now. He's a big boy, he can take care of himself." Maddy was very sure about that. To her, Ethan was pretty invincible and if he ran into any trouble, then she'd know. She'd find out. That was a hope she had to hold onto. What she'd told Dodge echoed in her head still. It's just us now and she didn't want that to be true.

I would know that better than you, princess. He only ever showed you what he wanted you to see. went through Corey's mind, but she didn't say it. It wasn't a pissing contest, and for a girl who'd arrived to see if a friend had gone missing, she seemed to be rather calm. Same with Ethan not being around. So, in Corey's view, the girl had to be pretty damn cold. She viewed the offering for her as just that--an offering for information. "You should get going." she told Maddy. "People get restless when others are wandering around down here." And that was the truth. It was actually for Maddy's safety.

"Not surprised," Maddy said. "I gotta find Roy's sister and let her know what happened anyway." She didn't feel like crying, which was weird given how prone to it she'd been lately. She just felt sort of... resigned. Distanced maybe might be a better term. "I'll keep my eyes out for Ethan too. He mentioned a place that he might stay so maybe he's there." Although she couldn't imagine why he wouldn't tell Corey, especially if he was staying with her. "Is there a better way to let you know what I find or should I just come back down?"

"Don't worry about it." Corey said. "I'll figure things out on my own. I've got my own ways too." Not that she knew what she'd find. She really didn't. But then, Ethan had been going off the rails lately, so maybe he'd just up and started over, without anyone along for the ride. She'd seen people do it before--like those who left topside for down there. You didn't exactly take anyone with you when you did that. She turned to head back into the darkness.

Maddy felt effectively dismissed and shifted her on her shoulder. "Take care," she said after her, genuinely meaning that even if she wasn't sure the other girl would share the same kind of sentiment. She turned away too and carefully started making her way back the way she came, hoping to hell that she didn't miss the turn.