Now I am curious as to what vote will actually win this round. I'm also curious as to how paranoid some of you will be when picking stuff to take with. :p
 
[X] Yes
- Sleeping Bag
- Matches
- Small first aid kit
- Trail Mix or Energy Bars or something similar
- Map
- Compass
- Whistle

Good additions, changed my vote
 
[X] Yes
- Sleeping Bag
- Matches
- Small first aid kit
- Trail Mix or Energy Bars or something similar
- Map
- Compass
- Whistle
 
Here's the Tally so far on this vote.

[X] No- Write-in: Go for a run,watch the news, research/ask about are camping area not necessary in that order
No. of votes: 1
Gamefreak1ed

[X] yes: the pair of Thompson Contenders that your parents have for the yearly hunting trip to Alaska. 40-06 barrel on one, .22 on the other-and a box with 25 rounds for each. The wildlife can be dangerous, you know! Hmm... Let's bring our old polypropylene walking staff, too. Who knows when we'll need some help with rough terrain, or to bushwhack some small trees.
No. of votes: 1
Student of Zelretch

[X] Yes - Write-in: That red toolbox with woodworking tools. Never know when you need a handsaw, a carving knife, and whatever else. Besides, it'll give you something to do.
-[x]Couple more books. Chemistry 101, never hurts to get a leg up, and that well worn copy of the ICS Mechanics Handbook. You shouldn't have to turn a car into a makeshift elevator, or transmit power using wooden rods, but you never know.
-[x]Matches, first aid kit, and sleeping bag can't hurt.
No. of votes: 1
FourmyleOfCeres

[X] Yes
- Sleeping Bag
- Matches
- Small first aid kit
- Trail Mix or Energy Bars or something similar
- Whistle
No of Votes: 1
Nevill

[X] Yes
- Sleeping Bag
- Matches
- Small first aid kit
- Trail Mix or Energy Bars or something similar
- Map
- Compass
- Whistle
No. of votes: 4
Hannz
Andelevion
Gingganz
Paykey

Just so everyone knows the vote will be closed at 1 PM tomorrow Pacific Time. So if anyone wants to make a change of vote or wants to vote, be sure to do it before then.

edit: Vote is closed!
 
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Chapter 2: Ready to Go!
[X] Yes
- Sleeping Bag
- Matches
- Small first aid kit
- Trail Mix or Energy Bars or something similar
- Map
- Compass
- Whistle

Nodding to yourself after making a mental list of the stuff you could bring along, you set off on your search for them. First on the agenda was the sleeping bag. Unless your parents sold them, you were pretty sure it was still in either the basement or the shed out back. It took maybe a minute to reach the stairs leading to the basement, so you flipped the light switch and headed on down.

The basement was a pretty spacious, about 26 x 30 you estimate but weren't quite sure. Regardless, it made for great storage space. Mostly everything was held in cabinets that lined the walls, anything else was either kept on a table or in a box. You began going through each of the cabinets, looking through each one carefully just in case you don't wind up looking over it. After looking through three cabinets you eventually find the one where the camping supplies were kept, and as luck would have it you also found an old compass.

"Alright, that's two down," you remark, scratching the two items off your mental list. With the compass in your hand and sleeping bag under your arm, you headed back up stairs.

The next two things on your list were much quicker to locate. With a quick look through the kitchen drawers and under the kitchen sink, you managed to find both the matches and the first aid kit. So now that's four things down.

The last three things you needed, however, would require you to leave the house to find. After a quick look through the kitchen cabinets you concluded your parents didn't have any trail mix or energy bars, and you don't have idea one about where in the house you'd find a map or a whistle. So going to the store was really the only option. Fortunately there was a Cabela's in town and was maybe a 10 minute drive away. There is no way you wouldn't be able to find what you are looking for if you go there.

You grab your shoes and your car keys, hopped into your Jeep Cherokee, and soon enough you were on your way. It didn't take to long to get to the store, and you were out just as quickly. When you first entered you asked for directions to the items you needed so you wouldn't just wander the store aimlessly in your search. Now you were walking out of the store, sitting pretty on a shiny new whistle, a map of the forest you and your friends will be camping in, and a bag of trail mix and a box of energy bars.

By the time you get back home you had little less than hour left before Eli is suppose to arrive. With everything on your list counted for you now find yourself with time still left over to kill. Shrugging it off, you march upstairs with your new supplies and put it with the rest of your camping supplies. Once that's taken care of you go back downstairs, placing you backpack by the door and plopping yourself down on the living room couch.

"Let's see what's on TV..."



Time flies when you are mindlessly glued to the TV. You were completely unaware of the passage of time as you sat there, but it was long enough. When you started you had drifted through the channels, unsure what to watch. Eventually you just settle on a channel and were now watching the show about the Wild West. It was kinda interesting, but at some point you just sort of just sat there staring and not really paying attention as your mind drifted off.

You were pulled from your own little world with a loud, sudden pounding at the door, startling you. You know only one person who'd knock like that. Getting up, you storm towards the door, anger washing over you. You open the door-

"Hey, Medi! Are you-"

-And you punch Eli in the shoulder.

"Ow! What was that for?!" He exclaims in an over the top manner, and clearly faked manner. Grabbing at his shoulder like he just got shot, all while trying to suppress a grin.

"You scared the shit out of me, Eli!" You yell, your arms folded as you glare at him. "Christ, have you tried knocking like a normal person?!"

"Did once, but it doesn't get that reaction so I stopped."

The two of you looked at each other for a moment, your arms lowering as you both grinned. The two of you wrapped your arms around the other and pulled yourselves into a hug.

"Good to see you again, Medea."

"Same here, Eli."

The two of you break it off and you take a step back to get a good look at him. Eli was a pretty big guy, standing at about 6'3" and wore a large white t-shirt, baggy jeans, and a grey hoodie; clothes that made sure you couldn't really tell if his body type was a little chubby or well muscled. He had brown buzzcut hair, which was mostly hidden by his Mariners baseball cap, and brown eyes which he wore prescription glasses for. He had grown a beard in the time you two haven't seen each other; it looked pretty good all things consider, it was well trimmed and kept for.

"So, who else have you picked up?" You ask, as you leaned back through the house door, grabbing your bag.

"So far just Dani," he says as he looked behind himself towards his red 2016 GMC Canyon that was parked in the edge of driveway. "Figured it made sense given she's my girlfriend."

"Hold up," You say as you right yourself, looking at him somewhat surprised. "You two are dating? Since when?"

He looks up for a bit, clearly in thought. His fingers twitch and extend as you watch him do math in his head in silence.

"I don't know... Maybe about two months now...?" He sounds unsure with his answer. You suppose you should cut him some slack, you know he was pretty bad at remembering dates and periods of times when things happened.

"Christ, I'm really out of the loop with you guys..." You sigh as you close the house door and walk past him towards his car with your backpack slung over your shoulder. It kind of bugged you that you did know about this until now. It really showed how out of touch you were with your friends that you don't even hear about there personal lives, or that they didn't bother to share them with you.

"Hey, don't feel bad about it!" Eli says as he runs up next to you. "You were pretty busy with college and living in Seattle, it would be unreasonable to keep up to date with us 24/7!"

When you get to the truck, you look into its bed. There was plenty of stuff back there, it really showed how prepared Eli was for all this. He had a tent, various supplies for outdoor cooking, a box of what you could only assume had perishable food inside, a particularly large rolled up sleeping bag (no doubt for him and Danielle to share), and a small ice chest. The last one you point Eli to.

"I don't suppose you got any drinks in there?"

"Nah just food; hot dogs and burgers. I kinda ran out of room for drinks..." You frown a bit at his explanation as to what was in the ice chest. "Lucas volunteered to bring an ice cooler of his own with drinks. So don't worry about that."

You nodded, satisfied with his answer, and placed your backpack into the truck bed.

"Medea~!"

Without warning you received a crashing hug from behind, which caused you to take a step forward in order to keep yourself balanced and from colliding face first into the metal truck. Turning your head to the right, you are face-to-face with Danielle's grinning visage. She could be pretty sneaky when she wanted to be, you didn't even hear her getting out of the car... if she was even in the car when you walked over.

"Hey, Dani... Mind getting off of me?" You ask, giving her a smile in return. She nodded and released you, allowing you to right yourself and to turn around to get a good look at him.

Danielle was always quite a pretty girl; standing at 5'7", with long silky black hair tied into a ponytail, the most beautiful green eyes, soft pale skin, coupled with a nice curvaceous body and long legs. She wore a tight red tank top with the straps of her bra peeking out just a little and a pair of shorts that really flaunted her legs, as well as a ton of jewelry such as necklaces, rings, and bracelets. You had to admit she was always quite the looker, even back in high school she attracted her fair share of admirers.

Of course, she had one little problem: she knew she was good looking, and wasn't exactly shy about it.

She always loved to wear clothes that showed off her body, any parent with a daughter's worst nightmare. Despite that, she wasn't exactly a "slut" as some judgmental people back in high school liked to refer to her as. She was quite a sweet, bubbly person who had maybe about three major boyfriends back then, but as far as you know she never slept with any of them. You could honestly see why Eli liked her, but it was surprising they only got together so recently.

"It is so cool that you are coming with us, Medea!" Danielle cheered, giving her largest, toothiest smile at you. You couldn't help but grin back.

"Yeah, I really missed you guys. I'm just glad everyone is on board."

"Yep!" Her grin fades and she looks at you a little sad... "It's sad that you'll only be back for a week though."

"Yeah..." You nodded, giving the most encouraging smile you can muster for her. "So that's why we need to do our best at making this as memorable as possible!"

Danielle's smile returns in full force as she giggles, soon enough you are laughing along with her.

"Hey ladies!" You heard Eli call. The two of you turn towards the source of his voice, looking at him through the rolled down window of his car. "We got places to be, so hurry up!"

"Shut up, jerk!" Danielle laughed as she opened up the passenger side door and entered the car.

Shrugging, you open the car door to the back seats and sat down, putting the seat belt on. Briefly you catch Eli and Danielle sharing a quick kiss between one another, to which you make a sound of mock disgust.

"Get a damn room!" You say with pretend outrage, to which the two laugh. Once their laughter ends you ask, "So who are we picking up next?"

Eli and Danielle turn to look at you, then to each other smiling, then back to you.

"Actually, I thought I'd let you choose." Eli says.

You blink. You? Before you can ask what he means, Danielle speaks up.

"I thought that since you are coming along that we'd let you choose who we should pick up." She smiles at you expectantly. "So who do you pick?

Who should you choose?

[ ] Pick up Sierra. She has been your friend since middle school, it is only right that you all get her first.

[ ] Pick up Lucas. He's a all around good guy. It would only be right to get him first. Plus he's got the drinks, dammit!

[ ] Flip a coin (1d100 roll)
 
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[X] Pick up Sierra. She has been your friend since middle school, it is only right that you all get her first.
 
[X] Pick up Sierra. She has been your friend since middle school, it is only right that you all get her first.
 
[X] Pick up Sierra. She has been your friend since middle school, it is only right that you all get her first.

I'm sure Lucas is great and all.....but......

Also only four fucking people??? That's terrible odds, give us some buffer bodies will ya?

*chants more meatshields for the horror god*
 
[X] Pick up Sierra. She has been your friend since middle school, it is only right that you all get her first.

I'm sure Lucas is great and all.....but......

Also only four fucking people??? That's terrible odds, give us some buffer bodies will ya?

*chants more meatshields for the horror god*
Buuuuut...? :V

Hey, some people start out with no meatshields! If anything, I'm generous. :p
 
[X] Flip a coin (1d100 roll)

(I am curious why would one need a d100 roll to pick between two options. Unless we bring in someone else entirely)
 
[X] Pick up Sierra. She has been your friend since middle school, it is only right that you all get her first.

We should wait a bit before we start drinking anyway. Be responsible: Don't get plastered until after you have pitched the tent.
 
[X] Pick up Lucas. He's a all around good guy. It would only be right to get him first. Plus he's got the drinks, dammit!

Someone's gotta pick the unpopular option :p
 
Chapter 3: Arrival
[X] Pick up Sierra. She has been your friend since middle school, it is only right that you all get her first.

"Sierra. Her first."

Good ol' reliable Sierra. Nice, adventurous, and just a little bit snarky at times. Of your friends, Sierra is arguably the one you've known the longest. The two of you met during the seventh grade, and for a while the two of you hated the other. You don't really remember why anymore, but you're sure it wasn't for any meaningful reason. You do remember when you started to get along, however. You remember there was one day where she was eating lunch alone, away from everyone else. You felt bad for her, even if you didn't like her then, so you decided to sit next to her and try to talk to her.

It was... a rocky start. The conversation started off pretty awkward, but as it went on it became increasingly more casual. After that day, little by little, you and Sierra talked more often, and eventually you'd start hanging out. Ever since then the two of you were the best of friends. Of course since your move to Seattle you've been talking less and less, with life in general being the main reason for the disconnect. You were sure that if it weren't for social media the two of you would have drifted apart for good as Sierra had a habit of either losing her phone or breaking it, forcing her to get a new phone and occasionally number.

"Perfect! I'll let her know we are on the way!" Danielle remarked cheerfully as she energetically typed away at her phone.

Eli turned the keys and the truck's engine roared to life, causing the vehicle to shudder from its rumbling. Soon the vehicle is put into motion as you faintly hear the opening riff to the song "Should I Stay or Should I Go" by the Clash from the car's radio.

It'll take some time to get to Sierra's home, maybe about 10 minutes. While the faint music would help erase the unease of a silent drive it wasn't a great alternative in lieu of conversation, so you figured to go start one up.

"Hey, Eli?"

"Hm?"

"What do you know about the camp ground we're going to?" You ask as you shift in your seat, trying to get comfortable.

"Just a few things," he shrugged as he turned the corner. "I know how to get there, and a little bit of the history of the forest."

"What kind of history?" You titled your head a bit; curious as to what he meant.

"Well, the forest has some urban legends and folklore to it, and-"

"Oh! Anything spooky?" Danielle spoke up, focusing her attention onto her boyfriend while sporting a grin that would make the Cheshire Cat green with envy.

"Yep! But, uh, you're going to have to wait until to night," Eli said, giving her a playfully wink.

"Lame..." muttered the black haired beauty, giving her boyfriend a pouting look as she sunk into her seat. Eli chuckled at the expense of his girlfriend's disappointment, which she responded to by playfully stick her tongue at him. These guys were dorks, but you couldn't help but love them all the same.

"Anyway," Eli said, focusing back on his driving. "Like I said, I know the history and the folklore about the woods, but I also know a few locations to check out there. I know somewhere in the woods there is a small lake, so if you are interested in swimming I hope you brought a swimsuit."

That... actually never occurred to you when you were preparing. Granted, you were preparing for what you would need out in the woods with your friends and weren't thinking about such things. Though, you don't know if any of your other friends prepare for swimming. Maybe they were all just like you and didn't think of it either. Well... maybe Eli and Danielle probably did given that Eli knew about it and probably told Danielle ahead of time. Though even if Eli didn't personally bring a swimsuit, Danielle most likely did. She was just that sort of person. Of course, it wouldn't surprise you if she brought it just to show it off to Eli. She was also that sort of person.

Though you suppose it didn't really matter all that much so long as you all had a good time together.

"There she is!"

Danielle's voice, snapped you out of your thoughts. You leaned forward slightly, narrowing your eyes as you looked into the distance. Sure enough, in front of a white house was Sierra with a duffel bag at her feet and bobbing her head to whatever music she as no doubt listening to from her phone. Eli pulled the truck over to the curb, parking it in place. You popped open the car door for Sierra as Danielle rolled down her window.

"Get in, loser! We're going shopping!" Danielle shouted out. Sierra just shook her head as she picked up her bag and walked towards the truck.

Now that she was closer you could get a better look at her. Sierra was about your height, with brown eyes and shoulder length brown hair with black highlights, and wore a red flannel jacket with a black tank top under it with the Batman logo on the chest, jeans, and a pair of hiking boots. Contrasting Danielle, Sierra lacked any jewelry of any kind on her person.

You scoot over in the back a bit so she could sit next to you. Sierra hopped in the car and looked to you, and you looked back. The two of you smiled to one another, reached over and hugged. You two held each other for a good few seconds, embracing the old friend that neither had seen in a long time.

"Now kiss!"

You and Sierra broke off the hug, the latter gave Danielle an annoyed look and reached forward to try to smack the grinning girl upside the head. Danielle however was too quick and ducked out of the way of Sierra's open hand, laughing all the while. Eli, meanwhile, was sighing and shaking his head in exasperation at their antics, and you felt as though you should join him. Whenever these two were always like this when they got together, almost like they had a secret pact to be a Straight Man/Wise Guy comedy duo.

Once the two had settled down Sierra relaxed in her seat and focused her attention back on to you.

"Been a while, Medea. How are you?"

"I'm doing alright," You say with a shrug. "I'm glad we all get to hang out again."

"Same here," she nodded as she took off her jacket. "I need to work on getting my driver's licence so me and you can hang out more often."

"Why haven't you yet?"

"Procrastination, mostly." She says with a sheepish grin, rubbing the back of her head. "Plus I've been trying to find a place of my own lately."

"Any places you have considered?" You ask.

"Not really," She signs. "I've been wanting to get out of town for a while but don't know where I would like to go."

You reach over and give Sierra a reassuring pat on the back.

"I know you'll think of something," You said while giving her a smile. Sierra smiles back, happy that you're there fore her.

The drive to Lucas' house was rather uneventful, as you, Sierra, Eli, and Danielle chatted freely among yourselves. The conversation flowed from simple catching up, to talks about upcoming movie, music, and more. Nothing really solid to keep the conversation fixed for the entire ride over to Lucas. As Lucas literally lived on the other side of town, the ride over was significantly longer than going to Sierra's.

By the time you all arrived to his house it was just a little past 1 o'clock. Once Eli had pulled up to the house he stepped out of the car.

"I got to help Lucas grab a few things. You guys sit tight."

With that he shut the car door and headed towards the house. While Sierra and Danielle busied themselves with making small talk while they waited, you focused your attention to Eli walking to the house front door. You see Eli knock on the door, and almost immediately it opens up. You can't tell who opened it, but you were sure it was Lucas. About a moment or two of talking to whoever answered the door, Eli entered the house and then exited with a ice chest in his hands, heading back to the truck.

Shortly after he was followed by another figure out the door who was carrying two pairs of lawn chairs in his arms. It didn't take you long to reconize him as Lucas. He looked a little different than when you last saw him. First off he grew out his dirty blond hair to about neck length, and got himself a tan. He wore a black AC/DC T-Shirt and a pair of tan cargo pants with pockets stuffed to the brim, to the point you were honestly surprised he wasn't having things fall out left and right as he walked towards the truck.

"Hey, Lucas!" Danielle shouted from the truck.

"Hey, Dani! Looking good as always!" Lucas said, giving her a wink as he placed the chairs into truck's bed.

"You know it! Now get in the truck and say hi to Medea!" The girl in the front she demanded as she rolled up her window.

Without needing much coaxing, Lucas shrugged and moved to the other side of the truck and entered into the back seats. Taking his seat, Lucas gives you a smile and wraps an arm around your shoulder, pulling you into a brief hug.

"Danielle told me to say hi to you. So hi." He chuckled as he let go.

"Hm, I heard the rumor." You said, chuckling yourself.

"Sup, Sierra!" He said, directing his attention to your long time friend on the other side of you and giving her a flirtatious grin. "How've you been, girl?"

"I was doing fine until you got into the car," Sierra replied sarcastically.

"No need to be like that," he said with a pretended hurt expression. "It is not everyday that you ladies get to seat with a gentleman such as I. And it is not every day I get to sit next to two lovely ladies such as yourselves."

"I'm sure on some planet, you are quite the gentleman, but your weak link is this is Earth." Sierra said with a grin and a roll of her eyes. You and Danielle couldn't help but laugh at the expense of Lucas, who for the most part took Sierra's ribbing rather well as he joined in himself.

Lucas was the friend from high school you've known for the shortest amount of time compared to everyone else. He was a transfer student in the senior year of high school, meeting him through Eli. He was a good guy, both polite and patient with people, and with a sense of humor. He was a major flirt, however, and would hit on any girl he found attractive, including you, Danielle, and Sierra. He would thankfully knock it off when it became clear he was being annoying or if he got himself a girlfriend. Outside of that, he was a pretty chill guy to be around, and would fondly gab on about his favorite movies, music, or shows if the subjects ever come up. You remember this one time the two of you were on a bus and he talk for thirty minutes about Godzilla. You don't even remember what set him on his rambling about the giant radioactive dinosaur, but it was rather adorably nerdy you could hug him to death.

"Alright, we're all set." Eli said as he entered back into the driver's seat. "Let's go!"

Danielle let out a cheer as the truck began to move once more, turning up the volume of the radio and the song "Highway To Hell" blasting out of the speakers. You winced from the sudden loud music, but you quickly adjust. Danielle starts rocking out in the front seat, banging her and singing along to the chorus. It doesn't take log until Lucas jumps in and starts singing along with her, Eli and Sierra bobbing their heads to the rock music playing, slowly joining in themselves.

You and all your friends, gathered together and already their having a good time. It warms your heart and a smile creeps onto your face.

You can tell that this trip is going to be great.



You find yourself jerked awake as the truck drove over unpaved road, being shaken left and right, colliding into Lucas and Sierra. You looked around groggily, rubbing your eyes. At some point during the trip you must have fallen asleep. The last thing you recall was all of you conversing while on the freeway. Nothing all that new, just more of the same from earlier: catching up, upcoming movies, video games, music, etc. You weren't sure when you started to doze off, but looking at your phone you saw it was almost 4 PM, so you were probably asleep for... You don't know, a few hours. You just woke up and your brain isn't awake enough to do time math.

As you put away your phone, a hand comes down on the top of your head, ruffling your hair.

"Morning, Sleeping Beauty," Lucas chuckled. "Get a good rest?"

Not fully awake yet to give a proper response with words, you just nod and yawn in response.

"Considering how much you wanted to hang out with us on this trip, I would have figured you would have gotten more sleep last night to avoid this." He said as he retracted his hand.

"Sorry, I tend to doze off when I'm riding in a car." You say as you stretch your arms above you head, which just bump up against the top of the truck. "If I'm driving I don't have that issue, but the moment I'm the passenger I'm out like a light in 30 minutes."

"Hey it's not all bad," Sierra said, taking your head into her hand and directing it to look outside. Now that you were a little more aware you could see that you had made it to the forest as stretches of trees pass by. "You get to wake up just as we arrived."

Suddenly the truck began to slow down before coming to a complete stop. Eli shifts the truck into park and cutting off the ignition.

"Alright, let's get moving," He says as he opens his door and steps out into the outdoors.

The rest of you soon follow, getting out of the truck and putting your feet to the dirt floor of the campsite. You take a deep breathe, letting fresh air and the aroma of the forest into your lungs, and stretched your arms high above your head, causing your joints to give out a satisfying cracking sound. You looked around you, taking in the surroundings. The campsite was pretty bare, all things consider. It was large circular shape, the ground beaten into a fine dirt road to allow cars to traverse upon it, and allow them to move in and out without difficulty. In the very center was an old metal fire pit, the inside of which was blacken by fires from an untold number of campers. Surrounding the fire pit were four old logs, lined around the fire pit in a square, obviously to act as seating for those who didn't bring any of their own.

You turn back to the truck, seeing Eli unload the supplies from the back as the others surrounded him.

"You want us to give you a hand, man?" Lucas asks as he takes his ice chest from the back.

"Nah, I got this." He says as he pulls out a folding lawn chair from the back and hands it to Danielle, who gives him a kiss and saunters off with it. "You guys go relax, I'll set up camp."

Sierra and Lucas looked to one another then shrugged, walked off and leaving Eli as he request. This wasn't really surprises, Eli always did like doing the heavy lifting himself. Though he liked to claim it was because he wanted everyone else to relax, you sort of suspected it was because he was a bit of a control freak and a perfectionist when setting things up, even to the point when it would be self-defeating.

You looked around to see what everyone else was doing. Danielle had set up her lawn chair just outside the log seating arrangement and was now stretched out on it like a cat. Lucas had taken a seat on a log, facing Danielle's direction, with his ice chest next to him. He reached inside the chest and pulled out a bottle of beer, popping off the cap with a bottle opener he had fished out from one of his stuffed pants pockets.

Sierra was heading towards the edge of the camp towards the forest.

"Sierra, where are you going?" You call out to her.

"Just for a bit of a hike," She calls back. "Figured it'd be a good way to both check out the forest and to stretch my legs out after that drive."

Seems like everyone was doing their own thing. What should you do?

[ ] Write-in

[ ] Help Eli set up camp

[ ] Hike with Sierra

[ ] Hang out with Danielle

[ ] Drink with Lucas
 
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