Greyhound
"Kar. Hey."
A pause.
"Karkat!"
Another pause.
"Pick up your glubbin' phone, goddamn it!" Eridan texted furiously.
"DEAR POMPOUS ASSHOLE: KARKAT IS BUSY RIGHT NOW. PLEASE SHUT THE FUCK UP AND LET HIM SLEEP." Karkat responded.
"Karkat this is really important! Equius and I just solvved the first piece a the puzzle!"
"WHOA, SERIOUSLY?" Karkat texted, "I'M LISTENING."
"Get ovver here, and fast. Bring the rest a the cabins."
"JUST TELL ME WHAT IT IS!"
"No!"
"YOU FUCKING- FINE. ILL BE OVER SOON." Karkat seethed, hitting send and shoving his phone into his pocket. Still wearing his day wear, he rolled out of bed and hurried to leave his room. Down the hallway and to the left, he knocked on all the doors as he went by. "Everyone get up!" He shouted. "Very important emergency meeting!"
"Ugh, what the FUCK, Karkat?" Terezi shouted from her bedroom. "This isn't why I nominated you!"
"Hey! Eridan and Equius called this meeting to order, not me!"
"You're the thucking leader, you tell them to thut up." Sollux sleepily groaned, poking his head out from his door. His glasses weren't on, and he shut his eyes tight to the glare of the hallway light.
"Everyone up and out of fucking bed, the two doofuses from cabin four just solved the first piece of the puzzle!" Karkat practically screamed.
"What?" Jade, Terezi, and Sollux asked in unison.
"What is it?" Jade asked, stepping out of her bedroom and into the light. She yawned, rubbing her eyes awake and stretching so that her tee shirt revealed the tiniest bit of her belly. Karkat turned away to avoid blushing.
"They won't tell me. They just want everyone over there immediately." Karkat said. "Now hurry up and let's go, pajamas or not." With a few more random groans and grumbles, Karkat's bunkmates followed him out the door. To the three other cabins on the way to the fourth, they pounded on the walls and demanded their presence. When they finally explained why they needed to go they followed, and met up with the group of four outside Eridan and Equius's cabin.
Eridan waited impatiently, arms folded and foot tapping on the dirt. He wasted no time in scolding Feferi for leaving the house in fish pajamas, and Sollux wasted no time in protecting her. Nepeta, so tired that she could barely keep her eyes open, leaned against Equius, who occasionally roused her from drifting away. As for Aradia, she stood very patiently and quietly, taking her place by Equius's side.
"So," Karkat said. "This had better be good."
Eridan handed him the license plate. "It's an address in Ellijay. The Main Street. And from what Dirk said we need to be there on Tuesday at four in the morning."
"Then what does greyhound mean?"
"Capital G." Kanaya said. "Greyhound Buses. It's a type of coach bus."
"So that's that. Now we know how to get to Atlanta." Karkat said.
"Bus fare, anyone?" Vriska cut in. "Any idea how we'll pay that? Mr. leader?"
"Let's focus on actually getting to the bus stop first. We've got quite the walk ahead of us, if you haven't noticed." Dave said. "I say we leave tonight. Walk through the night, work on getting some money in town, and wait around til four in the morning on Tuesday. Karkat?" He turned to the sleepy Grumpus. "Your approval?"
"I agree." Karkat said. "Okay, these are my instructions. Rose, Dave, go check with the professors. See if this is actually the right thing to do. Everyone else, get your phones and chargers and a couple personal items and all the money you have, and meet back here in twenty. And that's an order."
The crowd dispersed. Dave and Rose set out side by side to cabin number one, while everyone else went back to theirs, chatting along the way.
"Fef!" Eridan barked. "No silliness, do you hear me? Those personal items had better be-"
"Can you thut the thuck up?" Sollux hissed.
"I guess he's not that bad a leader." Vriska said to Tavros.
"He's ok. I like him." Tavros agreed.
"Gamzee," Karkat said. "Nothing crazy, okay?"
"I dunno what you're talkin about, mother fuckin best friend." Gamzee said lazily.
"Cmon, Nepeta." Equius nudged Nepeta.
"Mmmnnnnh." Nepeta groaned, hugging into Equius. "I don't wanna...I'm too tired." Equius lifted her up like a toddler and carried her back inside. Eridan rolled his eyes and followed, Aradia tailing behind him.
At cabin 1, Dave pounded the door. "Yo, professors, let us in." No answer. He knocked a couple more times before Rose got impatient.
"What did Professor Jane tell us to do in this situation?" She said. "When you need to leave the house and there's a fridge blocking the door, what do you do?" Dave simply looked at her. "You shove that sucker out of the way!" Rose answered for him with a laugh.
"So, what? What does that mean?" Dave questioned.
Rose flashed a shiny pair of lock-picking tools. Dave grinned.
Once inside, a note hanging from the ceiling hit Dave in the face. "Gah." He groaned. Rose picked up the note.
"Nice job picking the lock. This probably means you found the plate. Good luck. -DS." It read. "My how wonderful youve become! Youve certainly learned a bunch! Good luck to you all! -Jake. oh emm effin geeeeeee!! good joibs! *jubs *jobs wonk ;) -Rolal. Hoo hoo hoo! -Jane"
"Great." Rose said. "We're on the right track."
"I'll text KK." Dave nodded.
"yo, kk" Dave texted. "theyre gone. we're on the right track."
"GOOD." Karkat said. "GRAB YOUR TOOTHBRUSHES AND LETS GO."
"Are we all here?" Karkat asked to the company. A strong 'yes' answered him. "Good. Because in addition with my leadership, I have come up with other positions best suited to you all, starting with Kanaya. Kanaya, you're co-leader. You take over for me if something goes wrong. Also, you're smarter than I am, so in the case of a big problem or difficult puzzle I will step down temporarily for you to take over."
"Sounds good." Kanaya nodded.
"Nepeta, you're the shoplift. You get us the shit we need when we need it since you can slip around all aloof and shit. Equius, you're the muscle for obvious reasons. Terezi, you're the executioner. And no, not literally. You're like a Kanaya, except only in situations where we make physical plans happen, you'll be the one to execute them."
"Um, ok." Terezi grinned.
"Vriska, you're the distraction. When we're doing something illegal, like shoplifting, you'll be the distraction to allow Nepeta to get shit done. Tavros, you'll be doing the same, except as like another moving part in her distractions. For example, to allow nepeta to shoplift a shirt or something, Vriska will 'accidentally' topple over a shelf, and you'll be the one making a big deal out of it to distract more people. I want Dave as the locations manager, Rose as the budget manager, and John as the health manager. Jade, I want you as sharpshooter, like a doublecheck. Also, if something seriously goes wrong, improvise and make shit work. Fef, you're the decoy. The bait, of sorts. Sollux, you're the one to make sure once the bait is taken that she is in no danger and will survive."
"He's not suited for that!" Protested Eridan.
"Thut the fuck UP." Sollux groaned, balling fists.
"Eridan, your job is the body count. You make sure that wherever we are everyone is with us." Karkat ignored them both. "Aradia, you're the tears."
"The tears?" Aradia questioned.
"The beggar. If shit gets tough, you're the tearjerker that makes money." Karkat explained. "Gamzee, your job is to not flip your shit. That's all."
"Mother fuckin' peachy." Gamzee gave a thumbs up.
"It is probably the most important job there is, next to my job as leader. And that's all." Karkat concluded. "Any questions?" No hands raised. "Everyone got their shit?" Nods all around. "Good. Locations manager, guide us." And side by side, Dave and Karkat led the group through the forest.