It is currently 18:20 Pacific Time on Fri May 31 2002.

Currently the moon is in the waning Gibbous Moon phase (66% full).

Currently in Saint Claire, it is a cloudy day. The temperature is 65
degrees Fahrenheit (18 degrees Celsius). The wind is currently coming in
from the north at 7 mph. The barometric pressure reading is 30.07 and
falling, and the relative humidity is 46 percent. The dewpoint is 44
degrees Fahrenheit (6 degrees Celsius.)

[Editor's note -- After the safehouse explosion, Salem does not go to meet
up with the other Garou at the Rialto.  He effectively goes incommunicado,
not even checking in.]

Hanging about near the destroyed safehouse the next day, Alicia stays
across the street, well away from the police tape and barricades. In her
hands is a dangling string with a small, smooth stone at the end, bobbing
back and forth as she softly murmurs, keeping herself tucked away in the
shadows of an alley.

The stone swings gently on the end of the string; gradually, the 'tug' of
it directs the Gaian in a northerly direction.

Alicia glances down casually, then starts off in that direction, rolling
her shoulders a bit. Good thing she has on her new sneakers, this may be a
very long walk.

A long walk indeed -- the questing stone's guiding leads Alicia north and
then east, out of the city and toward I-90, to the collection of fast food
joints, car dealerships, and chain motels that always seem to cluster
around the outskirts of any American city. It eventually tugs the Child of
Gaia toward a peeling Motel 6.

Letting out a breath, Alicia is glad she spent all that time in Lupus,
gaining up her endurance for such travels. She is sweaty and looking
fatigued, but still willing to find her missing packmate. With a glance at
the string, she makes her way past the many doors, wondering which one she
will be led to.

Second floor, near the back. A few vehicles are parked outside -- a brown
pickup truck, a blue minivan, and an boxy little dull orange Yugo with
rust on the back fender. The blinds of the room that Alicia's led to are
closed; naturally, the door is locked.

Reaching out, the Galliard knocks lightly upon the door, three times. One,
two, Three.

No answer. Faint noise of a television playing inside, a touch too loudly.

Clearing her throat, Alicia knocks a few more times, then calls out. "Hey,
its me Arizona! You there?"

After a long while -- long enough that the Gaian may very well start to
worry, or yell again -- the tv-noise cuts off. There's a sound of a bolt
being pulled back, and the door opens, just enough for her to enter. The
room's very dim, all shadows, faint outlines of tangled bed and plain
motel furniture. "In," says Salem from behind the door; his voice is
hoarse, raw. Probably from the basement fumes.

Hurrying herself inside, Alicia lets out a soft breath, hands shoving deep
into her pockets.

Salem closes the door behind her, and now the room is _really_ dark; it's
almost impossible to see. The Walker's a vague, indistinct, Glabro-sized
shape in the darkness. "News?" He sounds like sandpapered hell.

Alicia shifts a bit and flops onto the bed, drawing a knee to her chest.
"Well, Roger is dead, the safehouse is blown to pieces, like...
completely. Everyone gathered at the Rialto temporarily, but John is
moving everyone off somewhere else. They wanna get more closer to nature
ya'know? Fight fire with fire, and pick a spot in the woods, or near by,
or somewhere they would not expect it, then form a plan with Peacekeeper.
Yi got some kinda stubby tail from one of the spirals and a tooth, which
they may use for tracking or what not -- also, James is ganna be making a
shit load of talens for the Sept to combat back."

The Salem-shape moves to a chair and drops into it, heavily, muffling a
grunt of pain. "Roger. Shit. I thought--" He coughs. "Thought I'd imagined
that."

"Ya'need me to heal ya or something?" Alicia asks, her voice soft as she
glances over through the darkness. She doesn't say anything else on the
Roger topic for now, leaving it alone.

Salem shakes his head, though the motion is mostly lost in the darkness.
"Be fine in a few days. Where in the woods?"

"Brittany mentioned using an abandoned Zoo' or something, cuz' it has a
lot of resources... but I don't know for sure. Everyone got into a fight
with Leonard cuz' he was telling all of us that we are pretty much fuckups
cuz' we're white or something and so Yi and I left to go back to the
safehouse and clean up a bit of left over evidence." Alicia murmurs.

Salem utters a short, raw-sounding laugh, though there's a shakey edge to
it that -- considering the source -- is startling. Or at least
uncharacteristic. It degenerates into another hacking cough as the
Walker's lungs deal with the after-effects of chemical burn.

A light chuckle slips past Alicia's lips also as she leans forward some on
the bed. "You should let me deal with that. Who knows, we may not have a
few days at this rate. I'm sure ya'voice is killing you."

Salem gets up; the dismissive wave he makes -- with his left hand -- is
almost lost in the darkness as he picks a careful way toward the sink
counter that's set up outside the tiny motel bathroom. He utters another
muffled cough or two, and then there's the sound of running tap-water.

"Alright, if you say so." Alicia says with a soft breath, rubbing the back
of her neck now. "You ganna come back with me, or shall I send John word
and tell him you may be held up or something?"

Salem is silent for a few moments while he downs a plastic cupful of cold
tap water and then refills it. "Tomorrow," he rasps, in that sandpaper
Glabro baritone. "Or Sunday." His back is to the Gaian.

"Alright bro'. You want me to... I dunno... stick 'round here with ya?
Watch yer'back or something just in case shit hits the fan?" Ali' asks as
she glances into the other room, leaning forward some.

Salem hesitates -- maybe he's taking another drink of water -- and then
rasps, "No. Not necessary."

"Ok.." Alicia lets, letting out a soft breath. "You got my cell, so if you
need me, I can get a car up here." Rising up, she stretches herself out
some, then lets her arms drop to her side.

Salem nods again. "Mine's slag," he rasps. "Have a car, though. Borrowed."
There's another pause, and then he adds, "Thanks."

"Hey, what are pack mates for?" Alicia smiles as she heads to the door,
opening it up just a bit so that she can slip through. "Just take care of
yourself."

Salem nods, keeping his back turned as streetlamp-light bleeds into the
motel room. "You too."