networkinthenight | @cuttingedge; A swamp warning [OPEN AUDIO] late on March 12th

[It starts with Jo clearing her throat. Somehow even that sounds tired and dejected.]

I went with a group I trust, looking for Dr. Solis' lab. We headed toward the mountains past the scrapyard and found a swamp instead. [She pauses here, searching for words to explain the seriousness of the situation.]

I don't know how far out it is because we were gone for days but it didn't feel like that. [An edge creeps into her voice and she lets out an annoyed huff of air.]

Whoever you see in there, you can't save them. Two of the group tried, and they were ready for a fight right up until they just gave up and sank. We had a rope. We couldn't pull them out.

[There's a shaky sound, almost a stifled sob. Don't comment on it. She'll deny it. She doesn't know what made them stop, but she knows Castiel went in ready for a fight.]

If you had any business with Dean Winchester, you can talk to me until he's back. [There's a rustling of fabric as she moves to end the call, but pauses.]

Castiel too.

Threaded | Flat

[ Castiel too. So, his instinct was right. ]

Pathetic.

Castiel never should have gone with you morons.

You almost didn't even mention he was gone. What a waste of Light.

Sorry to hear that about Castiel (and Dean I suppose, though I didn't know him nearly as well).

It sounds like the same sort of luck my group met with when we went in search of the medical center. Was it the swamp itself or a spirit?

I've been keeping a rough map on paper. If you're feeling up to it, I'd like to get more details about the route you took.

Are you okay

[Yes, Soldat just came back from dying a couple hours ago, found this, and is asking if she's okay. She doesn't know he died, right? She doesn't follow his patrol routes and whether he's on them, right? It's fine.]

Gone for days? How is that possible?

( to lose a stretch of time that big is pretty alarming in and of itself...

then, after a beat, )

I'm sorry about your friends. What about you, are you in one piece?

@darkness

@m.hughes

Private text, @ Soldier, late on 3/13

@HK