IC- Chapter Three: Lone Wanderers

[welsh]

upon their return

Earlier-

"You tell that fucking Mutant he's got no future with Pope's Trading Post and Shelter. " Yelled Pope, "And he better not step foot in here or I'll shoot him." Then he had stomped out.

McReady, Reed and Hook had met with Grim and Talon as they had come in. Talon had given a summary and Grim had filled in what details he could about the train depot and about the problems on the road.

McReady waited for Hook or Reed to apologize for not sending someone back to the depot to get 'em, or even warn them about the Prairie Dog tunnesl, but neither man said a word. McReady spat a wad of beetle juice when they failed to speak.

"Well, get your men ready. Tell Ibis he's on point in the morning and I expect you'll be forward with McReady." Said Reed.

Grim nodded. It was obvious, Reed didn't give a shit about the depot. The caravan man was only interested in the cargo and getting his shipment to GreyCliffs. The fewer men who got the end, the fewer he would have to pay.

Grim would talk to McReady about it tomorrow and perhaps Hook would get word from Talon.

"What about the mutant?" Grim asked.

"Well, you heard Pope, he ain't welcome here no more. If he can fight we can probably take him with us." Said Reed.

"You'll pay him." Grim said, more a statement than a question.

Reed looked relucatant for a moment before saying. " Yeah, I reckon. He might scare off some folks and we could use a human ox. But now we got us another problem." Reed paused. "Seems we got a passenger."

"You'd prefer we left her behind?" Said Talon.

"I'd prefer we didn't have a whore on the trip." Said Hook, "It will distract the men. Keep their minds off the work."

Indeed Nat had already opened up for business and there were a number of men trying to pool money to have a bit of fun.

"She can pull her weight." Said Grim, not wanting Talon to get in trouble with Hook, the superior.

"Bullshit." Said Reed. "She wants to ride in our protection, she'll have to pay."

IN otherwords, if Nat wanted to work her trade, Reed wanted her to pay her way.

"How much." Said Talon.

"I reckon that's between me and the lady, ain't it."

Grim had been about to offer to pay the wage on the passenger, but he could see what Reed was thinking. Lousy caravan man wasn't willing to risk a life to save his men, but was willing to get rent from a whore. Fucking pimp.

But it was Reed's show. He was boss and he charged the rents.

Talon said, "I'll tell her."

"No, I'll speak to her myself. Might be able to get something extra out of it." Reed winked.

Talon felt a surprising desire to shoot the man.

Grim shook his head. "Come on." He said to Talon,"Let's check the guards then turn in."

_________

Jim had been to see Natalie, but she had told him to take a bath before he came with his flea bitten body. So Jim had rented the tub that Pope kept and heated up some water.

While enjoying his soak, Ibis had shown up.

"How them fleas?" Said Ibis.

"All drown I guess." Said Jim.

"Well I got something for you." Said the old man, revealing a long syringe.

"Fuck me, what are you going to do with that." Said Jim.

"Precautions. Yersinia Pestis will kill ya if you let it. Best to take some early precautions." Said Ibis, as he prepared the syringe.

"What's a Yersinia Pestis?" Asked Jim, as Ibis plunged the syringe into his arm.

"Trust me, you don't want to know, nor do you want to even whisper its more popular name."

__________________

Blade had also gone to have his leg checked out after speaking with one of the guards that had met them half way back.

The guard was a woman named Buffy, cute but a fighter. He had remembered a woman in the Marines much like her.

But damn that itch. Freaking fleas.

One of the other men had begun to itch as well. "Jeezus, fleas. Damn, means I have to take a bath."

"Yeah, seems like there were a lot of them out on the field."

________________

 

[welsh]

OOC- OK, just to confirm. This role play is not taking place in California, so if you are new, you might want to familiarize yourself with Fang's world and the summary of the first couple of chapters.

ICC-

Grim had seen the movement of Gruug, the hands clasp around the big assault rifle, and had ducked to the side as the Mutant fired off a round.

"Errr... sorry." Said Gruug, who eased the rifle down.

The burst had alerted other guards who came around.

Grim looked at the Mutant suspiciously. "You know, that kind of thing makes a person unpopular."

"Bad dreams." Said the mutant, apologetically.

"No kidding. Must have been a doosey."

Other men had gathered, including Blade, Buffy and Talon. "You alright." Asked Blade.

"Yes, I'm ok. He thought he saw one of them frogs is all. Keep out a sharp eye. It might also have been raiders."

The others moved off, a bit more cautiously, except for Talon.

"You spoke false for me." Said the mutant.

"Yea, well, better then a bit of embarrassment. These guys will be watching your back the next few weeks, so you'll want their trust."
Said Grim.

"Not used to humans. They don't trust mutants." Said Gruug.

"Well, they're suspicious, and they have their prejudices." Said Talon. "But they ain't all bad."

Gruug nodded, but didn't seem quite convinced.

"Gruug, I came to ask you. What's with all the bottle caps." Asked Grim, holding up the bag full of caps.

"Lots of money. Can buy gear, supplies." Said Gruug, as if this was obvious.

"And Pope's been paying you caps." Asked Talon.

"Yes, first he wanted to pay in shining coins, but then I said only caps."

Talon and Grim looked at each other, mildly astonished but not exactly surprised.

Grim spoke first. "Well, Gruug, not sure where you come from."

"West. Master's Army but all gone now." Said the mutant.

"ah right. Well, they might use caps where you come from."

"Hub gives value to caps. But Hub all gone. Conquered by Master." Said the mutant.

"OK, but here they use those coins. Well anything of value. But caps, well, not much value here. This won't buy you a bit of jerky." Said Talon.

"No jerky?"

"None." Confirmed Talon. "Grim has made sure you will be paid in coin from Reed and you'll be with the caravan."

Grim was momentarily distracted by a flea that was crawling on his hand. He felt a slight pinch, and then the flea seemed to explode. Strange, must be the new blood.

"Now, I think we need to clue you in on some things around these parts." Said Grim, beginning to explain the area and people of these parts.

____________

Later that evening, Jim, recently bathed, went to visit Natalie.

Natalie had set up 'shop' in a tent provided by Ibis. Jim waited while Natalie finished with her customer and then the flap came open and Reed left. Jim didn't say anthing as the caravan cheif left.

When he entered the tent, Natalie had lit a couple of candles for illumination. He could see she was visibly distressed, although she seemed to perk up when she saw him.

"Hi Jim, I was wondering when you were going to show up." She said.

"Hope I ain't too late." Jim said.

"Not yet, but just give me a chance to wash up and get that feel off that piece of shit Reed off me first."

"Can I watch?" Asked Jim.

Natalie winked and began to wash herself.

"So what's with Reed?" Jim asked, trying to make conversation.

Nat hesitated. It wasn't her way to talk business with customers. But that bastard Reed really had her angry. He had demaned a freebie, and giving freebies on demand went beyond her principles. THen afterwards, he had said she could stay but would have to pay for it. Until she could, the amount would earn interest, compounded daily.

She didn't need nor want a pimp. And it pissed her off.

"He wants money and is going to force me to pay." She said.

"How can he manage that?" Asked Jim, enjoying watching her bath. How long has it been.

"Cause he runs this caravan and its his right. I don't even have a cart to work out of. That and he wants freebies until I pay. Merde."

"How much money?" He asked. She was angry alright, but the anger made her eyes light up.

"5,000 coin. And its not like I got anything but what I took off with. He says I got a day to decide."

"That's a lot of coin."

"Yeah and I need to buy a cart to." She said.

"There's an old cart that Pope is trying to get rid of but no one wants it. Still I figure I could get it to work." Jim said. "And maybe the others could help you out."

"You'd do that for me?" She asked, now looking at Jim differently.

"Sure, I'm good with my hands." He said.

"Well, sugar, youll have to show me how good you are with those hands now won't you."
_________________

After Jim left, he went to see Pope and bought the cart, negotiating down the price. He had made a deal, a poke for a cart, and it had been worth it.

After inspecting the cart, he figured it would take some work to keep together, but much of the maintenance could be done on the road. In the meantime, he would start his repairs.

By the morning Jim had done all he could, and the cart was working again.

________________

Nat continued working, and on occassion when she would leave the tent she would look up and see Talon up in the stands, sitting down watching.

She waved to him, but he didn't wave back.

Later after the last happy caravan hand had left, she went up to the stands where Talon was still sitting. When she sat next to the Borderman, he woke up.

"Morning." she smiled.

"Morning. Long night?" He asked.

"Lots of lonely boys on this caravan, Talon." She said, smiling.

"Well it seems you have your work cut out for you." He said, but with little kindness.

"You don't like what I do, do you?" She said.

"Nope." He said.

"Well I don't like what you did either. Don't forget, its people like you that made people like me." She said, growing angry.

"It ain't people like me that kept you in business. People can change too." He said.

"YOu make it sound easy, living out here, trying to get by on my own." SHe returned.

"Then don't be on your own." He snapped, growing angry with himself for getting into this conversation.

"What, and be with someone who sells people for a living. Tell me which of us is more disreputable. Me for making people happy or getting them off, or you turning them to slaves." She said. 'Thank you, I think I'd rather be on my own."

"I dont do that no more." He said.

"I know." She said. "You think I want to do this forever? Do you think I got much choice."

"I don't know." He said. Then he got up and walked away.

Nat watched him walk away and then left the stands to seek out Gruug.

Talon had one stop before turning in. The herd of Brahma were kept in a pen at the end of the stadium. Earlier he had stopped in to speak to Jim about the cart.

He found one of the herdsmen and said. "How much for two bulls?"

In the morning there were two bulls to go with the cart that Jim had been working on.
_____________

Nat watched Talon leave and grew angry again. She didn't want this between the two of them. Sometimes one needs to get over the past, girl.

She went the main doors and asked the guard where she could find the mutant.

Grim and Talon and been talking to the mutant before, telling them about this place and how it was different. It was all somewhat startling to Gruug. When he seemed to have had enough, the two men had left him to ponder his new life. He had not been asleep, thinking about what they had said and picking off the fleas that seemed to keep dieing on his skin.

He was still awake when Nat found him. He watched her walk along the outside walls of the stadium, until she could see his big shape.

"Gruug?" She said.

"Yes."

"It's Natalie, from before."

"Yes Nat. I remember." He said, although she had been called Nat.

"Gruug, I'd like to ask a favor." She said, now coming closer and Gruug could see her dark complexion.

"YOu want my help?" HE asked.

"Yes. You see, a girl like me, well, sometimes needs someone to look out for her. Someone to protect her that she can count on." She said.

"You want Gruug to protect you?" He asked.

 

[Gruug]

Gruug looked at Nat, stunned. She wanted him to protect her... Be able to help wastes.... This idea went great with Gruug. And then he remembered his dream... Now how many dreams like that would he have? How many people would he kill waking up? But, I suppose I might just do it... Gruug thought to himself.
After all, I owe the people in the wastelands somthing.
"Natalie, who do you need protection from? Have you angered anyone? Or is it Talon? He doesn't like it that you are a whore I gather." Said Gruug.

Gruug got up, walked a couple of big steps, then fell to the ground in a crash that made the ground shake. Gruug heard several shout's of "What the fuck was that?" "What the hell?" "Probably that fucking mutant!" That was most likely pope. God he hated that man. Had he still been with the Master, he would of sent out a two man hit team to beat the living shit out of him. But the Master, sadly, was no more. And here he was, talking to a prostitute. She was asking for his protection. She should be the one asking the others for protection from him.

He saw Natalie come up to him and ask if he was ok.
"Yes, just this poison. In my backpack, left pocket, down bottom left, antidote for poisons. Pass me up one."
Gruug watched as she rumaged through his backpack for what seemed hours. She got it, and handed it over to him. Using his right hand, he injected it into his major artory of his left hand. He slowly watched as the blue liquid made it's way all around the vains pumping out of his body. Only when he felt no trace of poison, did he try to get up again. Nat tried to help him, but he waved her off.
I'd just crush her into the ground if she tried to help. He thought to himself.

 

[welsh]

As usual the caravan woke at the crack of down.

"Ibis! You're on Point. Get that freaking thing movin, and I want the 60 up." Pope was yelling instructions."Lets go people. Daylight's wasting. Get the damn Brahma switched over. We're making time and I want them fresh. What the fuck is this. Little Miss Hot Pants got herself a cart. Looks like a piece of shit. Best you stay at the front of the line so we can keep an eye on ya. But I don't want you holding up the rest. Lets go. Now Damn it! Crooked Christ you folks need to get up and go."

Around them the other men got up, shaking off their sleep to prep the caravan for another day. The 20 wagons, 50 men and 100 Brahma of the caravan had grown overnight.

"You. Yes you! You big 9 foot freak." Yelled Reed.

"I go with Nat." Said Gruug.

"Right, go with Nat. Good idea. McReady, get your people moving. I want some eyes out there."

Pope turned his eyes on Blade. "Blade, don't just stand there, you got the M-60 on Ibis' cart since you like him so much. Someone wake up Jim. Damn it. Lets get a move on. "

"WHere do you want me?" Asked Buffy.

Pope paused. Too many damn women on this trip. He thought. "You go upfront. Stay alert."

Many of the men got up, gathered their things and said a morning prayer before getting started. The caravan crew had its own cook who prepared a sloppy breakfast of oats and meal.

Nat yawned a big wide yawn and looked over at Jim. "Jim, you not going to make it today. Best you ride in back and get some sleep."

She was right. He had worked all night. Virgil had lent a helping hand for awhile and was currently sleeping in Ibis's cart. "Then who's going to drive the cart."

Nat looked over to Rogue. "Let me see what I can do."

She crossed the campsite to Rogue. "Rogue, Jim is supposed to drive for me but he worked on the cart all night and needs to rest. Would you mind?"

Talon was discussing matters with Hook, when to report in, the course. "I want you up front today. I'm still worried about those Frogs and will stay back." Said Hook.

Grim looked about. Where the hell was Gabriel?

When he turned back, he saw that McReady was already heading out, had gone 50 paces and was looking back at Grim. "Well, ya going to stand there or ya going to tell me about last night."

Slowly, the caravan got started. McReady and Grim far out as scouts, with Thing 2 and Thing 1 running around the moving caravan as roving observers.

Behind them the caravan stretched for almost a half mile. The sun was already coming up and it promised to be a hot day.

 

[Gruug]

Gruug remembered what Nat had asked. He helped bring the brahmin to the cart, more like dragged them, everyone else thought. Gruug walked off and pulled the cart to where the brahmin were, then hooked them up. He noticed how shabby the cart was. Whoever tried to do it up, needs some real lessons, gruug thought to himself. Oh well, he saw the cart had extra timbers and hammers. He would be able to make repairs whilst moving. After a half hour, everyone was ready, and they started off.

Gruug felt inclined to tell Nat what those gunshots where about yesterday, he was inclined to tell her the whole thing, so he recounted the tale, which wasn't really a tale, it was more a memory that he had gone over last night, as it had really happened.

"Well Nat, you see, I was one of the Commanding Officers in the Masters Army. The Master's idea was peace and unity, he got new people by finding out new vaults, with pure humans. There was also a church that was dedicated to him, they also brought in fresh humans. You see, The Masters goal was peace and unity throughout the wasteland, but we couldn't do it by ourselves, as the normal humans just wern't capable enough. They wern't strong enough, could not endure enough, most wern't even smart enough. So he used an old secret millitary base as his base of operations. It had documented there, all about the fev strands, so The Master started experimenting with it. He experimented with himself first. And he liked what happened. He then recruited other people. Like me. Most of the Generals were like me, a bit smaller, but much smarter, and quite a lot more agile. Anyways, about the memory I had last night, here is how it goes...."

"HE'S COMING! HE'S COMING!" Yelled one of the mutants, who then sounded the alarm. And there, on the camera's came the General, with his followers and 5 squads of BOS lapdogs. Gruug watched on in amusement, as the Super Mutant guards tried to stop them. Sheesh, normal chaingun bullets wouldn't do jack shit to BOS power armor. Maybe give it a few scrapes, but that's probably all. Gruug frowned, the General, also in power armor, grabbed the plasma rifle from his back... Wait a sec... That's no ordinary plasma rifle... Looks like a Turbo Plasma rifle... Pow, he fired a 4 bolts right into the mutants body, Gruug watched with disgust for 3 hours, while his super mutants posed no threat to the General and his lap dogs...
Gruug pressed the com button.
"Terror squad, you are assembled I hope, go to quadrant h3, equiped with turbo plasma rifles, turbo laser rifles and turbo laser gatling guns. You will probably die, but remember, FOR THE MASTER!" He watched as they all raised their weapons and yelled, FOR THE MASTER. After half an hour of fighting, and 2 BOS squads wiped out, Terror squad was no more. The General was coming.
"Right, prepare the traps, it's time to see how smart these people are." Said Gruug.
"JASAR!" Screamed one of the grunts.
"NO NEED TO FUCKING SHOUT ASSHOLE!" Screamed Gruug back and shot him in the face with the laser gatling gun. Gruug watched as the body hit the floor, twitching. Gruug then sniffed a booger at him.
"Disgusting idiot. Get throw him out." Commanded Gruug.
"Yes sir" Said one of the other grunts much more quietly.
Gruug stood over the consoles, with his finger hovering over the traps button. He then pressed the intercom button for Quadrant h9.
"I hope you like spart's." Said Gruug.
He saw the General instantly reckognise what he meant, and shouted "GET DOWN!" But it was too late for the last two squads, as only one squad was down quick enough before Gruug pressed the button. Titanium rods and spores of acid came flying out of the walls, eating away and puncturing the Power Armor. Gruug knew instantly that those two squads were wiped out.
"Everyone, get out of here, now." Gruug commanded, and after a minute of hectic confusion, no one but himself was in the room.
Let em come. Gruug thought to himself. He got out his Turbo Plasma rifle and Turbo Laser Gattling cannon.
After 5 minutes, the door wooshed open, and the BOS squad came charging in. Gruug let the Laser and plasma bolts fly. He saw he made short work of five of the BOS. Then he turned the cannon on the next three, while shooting his Turbo Plasma Rifle at the last one.
"They are now all dead... HAHAHAHAHA" Said Gruug.
"Wrong" Came a voice behind him, the General, who shot him in the face.

"Now that's when I woke up and fired shots, just missing Grimm who had come to check in me, because he ducked. Smart human, that one. You see, I realised my wrong, after the General had killed the master, he shut down the base. I was stuck inside. There were a few others left, not many though. We rumaged around what remained of the base, grabbed weapons, rigged backpacks, collected medical supplies, non perishable food, amunition, that sort of thing. I knew I'd have to repay Humanity for what we had done. About that time is when my faced got patched up by the last medic. We were stuck in there for a year, thank god the General did not destroy ventilation. In that time, is when I honed my skills for the outside world, and made my modified Kalashinikov. I knew there wouldn't be enough ammo for the other technical guns. Me and my group finally broke free, broke through the rocks blocking our exit. When the last mutants were out, we resealed the exit, and set off. Trading our weapons for food, supplies and shelter along the way. We were attacked by a raiding party, even though we managed to kill them all, we were all mostly injured. 3 of us had died. So we decided to split up, go our seperate ways. And I've been wandering the wastes ever since. Yes, I am very old by human standards, but I am middle age by super mutant standards. Well, I think I have rambled on enough, and you probably know about me enough by now I would think. So I am just going to trudge up ahead to see if the others are doing fine, and to apologize for the shots I squeezed out last night."

And Gruug trudged off after the other caravans, letting Natalie have some thinking time.

 

[welsh]

Natalie watched the big Mutant trudge away. Poor lonely guy. Maybe half out of his mind with that crazy story of his.

She looked behind and saw the dome of the collesium slowly disappear behind. Before her the gentle rocking of Ibis's wagon. Behind her she could hear Jim softly snoring away.

Gabriel, that blue eyed devil, had come in from where ever he had been and spoke to Ibis, then climbed up to take the reigns while Ibis took a bag of supplies and got off his wagon and went back to Natalie. The big three headed dog followed him.

"Natalie, do mind if I come up. I had aimed to check you out last night but fell asleep." Said Ibis.

"If you want to check me out you got to pay for it and I'm afraid we might get splinters out back." Said Nat, smiling seductively to the older man. "We could stop by Reed would probably be pissed. Can it keep for tonight."

"Sorry I don't follow."

"Well, you might be old but I guess your plumbing still works alright." Said Nat. "How long has it been since you go got lucky."

Rogue looked away, a blush and a smile.

"Oh no. It's not like that. I come to give you a medical check. It's for your own good."

"Oh, well as long as it ain't a freebie." She said.

Ibis climbed up and took a blood sample, then, lifting up a sheet to cover the cart, did his best to inspect her for inflammation or viruses.

"You know in your line of work, ya got to be careful." He said.

"Tell me about it." She replied. "Sometimes you don't know where the fellow has been."

"I'm going to give you a shot. Just to be safe. It's a pennicilin based cocktail and it will take care of anything that ails you. I'll do a quick op on the blood and let you know if I find out something."

He gave her the shot and she quickly got dressed.

"Well I appreciate it." She said. "How can I repay you."

Ibis smiled. "Well, maybe later. But I figure its best. Reed is worried that you might spread something to the other men. YOu know he don't like having you around."

"He don't mind if it makes him some money though." She said.

Rogue, who had been listening, asked. "How much does he want."

"5,000 in coin." She said.

Rogue was shocked. "Crooked Christ, where the hell are you going to get that kind of money."

"Yes, that's a lot." Said Ibis. "I got about 1000 coin with me but that's all I got. I can lend it to you."

"Thanks, but I think Reed's idea is to take a piece of my business for himself." Said Nat. It wasn't the first time she had to deal with a pimp, but rarely had she dealt with one so sleazy or vile.

"That's bullshit." Said Rogue.

"That's life hon. But I better catch some sleep or I won't be good to go tonight."

Nat turned away and went back to sleep near Jim, whose snores had become louder. Ibis took a seat next to Rogue for awhile.

"That's not fair." Said Rogue. Although she knew it was the caravan master's right to charge passengers what he thought was the fare, Rogue had never heard of a caravan chief charging so much for a passenger.

"No it's not." Said Ibis. "But life's not very fair either."

"We could rise up a collection." She said.

"We could try." Ibis said, and got off the cart and hurried up to catch up to his own.


__________________


Further up the road, Grim is walking next to McReady, who has been more talkative today, asking about the train depot and what happened down there, the finer problems of Gimmerlings, and the moonfrogs and prairie dogs he's seen.

"Damn good eaten, them dogs, but you got to be careful. They carry all sort of disease too. Those frogs though, deadly to eat. Stay away from 'em" Says McReady.

The road is open and wide. No obstructions in either direction, no trace of anyone or anything.

Grim had asked Pope about whether he had seen a Blade and another man. But Pope had merely said that the caravan were the first people he had seen in months, and before that, only the big mutant.

Thing One and Thing Two come running from ahead, stopping only when they are near McReady, and first they take long drinks from their canteens.

When they finish, they point ahead. "Rift." They say.

McReady nods, and then the two tribals run to the left, circling around the caravan as it approaches the Rift.

"What's the Rift." Asks Grim.

"The giant crack in the shell of the world. We got to pass it to get to Grey Cliffs. "

 

[Gruug]

Gruug stopped trudging, and started walking along side the caravan ibis was on. Ibis looked like a medic... Doctor, Gruug said to himself.
"Errr, sorry to disrupt your conversation with Rou.... Roughe... Rogue, but are you the medic, I mean, doctor on this caravan? Because I think I could help you out. I have quite a few medical supplies, you'd be suprised to find what you can pick up along the way. Anyhow, maybe I should give you some anti poison syringes and this doctors bag I picked up in V.C. You won't know what V.C. is, and you most likely don't want to know. Anyways, let me get them." And with that, Gruug started rumaging through his massive backpack whilst still walking, a skill Gruug had developed quite well. Then, Gruug took out what looked like a white bag with a red cross and a syringe on both sides, and handed it up to Ibis, along with a few anti poison syringes.
"Well, that's about all the really helpfull stuff that I had in my backpack gone. I hope you put the doctors bag to better use than I did. Oh, and take the key to open the lock, and this piece of paper here for the combination." Gruug handed those over. Gruug could see that Ibis was quite pleased.
Gruug then walked around to the other side to Rogue.
"Sorry for saying your name wrong, Rogue. It's just, I'm quite new to this Caravan, and have not memorised everyones names. Can I ask you a few questions?" Asked Gruug, as he trudged along the caravan.

 

[Fallout]

OOC - Sorry i didnt post for a while, i sleep over at my friends house for the weekend.... ( dont even start with the gay jokes.....

ICC-Buffy was still trying to get to the head of the caravan like Reed had told her to. Panting and out of breath, dripping in sweat, she reached the head of the caravan. Talon was there. She never really had a civilized conversation with him, just a Hello and Good day here or there.

Buffy inspected Talon, she knew that he was a ex-slaver, she had always hated slavers, cause of the one saying that her friend used to say " Nah i never travel with slavers, they always tend to "let you go" when they are in a pinch."

"So, your an ex-slaver huh?" Buffy tried to start a conversation.

"Yah, i'm an ex-slaver, but i don't do that stuff anymore, it seems that some of the other people dont think that i'm an ex." Talon answered, having said that about 200 times to other people.

As Talon had finished saying that, Thing 1 came out of the distance all sweaty and almost blackishly tan from the radioactive sun rays in this unbearable heat, and shouted, " Rift!! Ahead!!"

Talon shouted to the caravan behind him, "Hey the the rift is ahead!"

The caravan behind him did the same to the caravan behind them and so on.

" So what do you do for a living," Talon inquired.

"I've been all over the place, mostly on caravans so i can save up money to buy or build my own bar. Thats what i used to do, until some "problems" came by. But i don't wanna talk about those "Problems" right now. What do you do now since that you arent a slaver anymore?" Buffy answered while whiping her brow before saying the last word of her sentence.

" Currently, i'm looking for Jeeva, besides that, i'm kind of a mercenary, getting caravan jobs whenever i can."

Due to the heat, Buffy started to remove her trenchcoat. With it gone, it revealed her slim figure as well as her assortment of collectors editon's guns. She carried the trechcoat over her shoulder, rather than folding it and putting it in her backpack. Talon, Staring at her in awe, looked at her amazing bueaty, not surpassing Natalie's but Buffy was still bueatiful.

" Wow!" Talon whispered outloud, which he meant to keep in his head, he blushed with embarassement.

"Well, what did you expect? Long pants and a buisness shirt? I'm not some weird girl from NCR over in California. Just a pair of short shorts and a tank top for me, as long as all my guns fit on it, i'm fine." She explained to him while he was still starring at her, googlie eyed.

Talon wondered why he was attracted to her and not Natalie, he figured it was because Nat didnt like slavers, even if he if an ex slaver, but Buffy seemed to get over that pretty quickly. And he didnt quite like nat for her profession. He thoguth that he might as well not mess his friendship up with Buffy and make a move on her. He just continued to walk, waiting til they reached the Rift, wondering what they would do there....

 

[welsh]

at the rift

OCC- Nice to see you back Fallout. I was a bit worried we'd lost you.

ICC- Talon and Buffy continued to talk as they neared the Rift where Grim was waiting. Watching the two walk and talk very close to each other.

These kids, thought the older bounty hunter, like jacklehares in Spring. But then this did promise to be a long trip and such happenings made the trip seem to go that much faster.

"Good to see ya, Talon. Buffy." Said Grim in greeting.

A couple of dozen paces behind, he could see Ibis's wagon, followed by Rogue on Nat's and then the rest of the caravan stretched out behind.

Before them was a deep and wide canyon, in the middle of which ran a river. along one side a narrow road ran down and disappeared behind canyon walls. But somewhere it met the floor of the canyon because another road seemed to stretch across to the river, next to which Talon could make out a house. On the otherside the road continued, but to where Talon couldn't see.

"Howdy. What gives?" Asked Talon.

"McReady is following the trail down, scouting it out to see if its safe. One of the tribal scouts is out with him. "

"Damn narrow for carts." Said Buffy.

"Yes, and it gets worse. McReady says that the road often disappears due to erosion. We might need to improvise on the way down. Either break up new road or building makeshift bridges." Said Grim.

"Make bridges with what?" Asked Talon.

Grim shrugged. "According to McReady, there is a foot bridge some four days South of here. There is another crossing to the North, but it will take us a week to get there and then we'll have to come back as that road down there," Grim pointed to the road on the canyon's basement, "is the only way over."

"Great, Reed will love this." Said Talon.

"Oh it gets worse." Said Grim. "But McReady is keeping it to himself as he doesn't want word getting out."

Behind them the carts had begun to stop and pile up around the edge of the Rift.

Reed had come forward to inspect. "What the hell is the hold up now!" He yelled.

______

Back in the cart, Blade couldn't help but itch. Damn fleas. Must have been those prairie dogs.

Ibis noticed the itching. "How long you been doing that."

"What fleas. I guess forever." In the wasteland, with so little water people got used to fleas. There was just no getting around it.

"No I mean now, it seems worse."

"Hell yes. I reckon I got these back with those damn prairie dogs when I went down into the tunnels."

Ibis remembered Virgil pulling the big man up. "Did you see anything down there strange." Asked Ibis.

"Saw some dead prairie dogs. I guess the fleas came from them."

Ibis thought about that awhile, then turned to Gabe.

"Gabriel, do you have a map on that pip boy. It might be good if we found out if there were any medical supplies around these parts. Might you have that info on the Pipboy?"

____________

Rogue had been talking with Gruug, and noticing how even when she was sitting on the cart the big man (or mutant?) was still taller than she. Indeed, it seemed he blocked the sun.

Then she noticed that Ibis had slowed to a stop, so she pulled back the reigns to slow down the Bulls and then reached for the break.

The halt of the cart had jarred awake both Jim and Nat, who had been sleeping. Jim found himself with his arms wrapped around Nat, and seemed a bit suprised and flustered. Nat smiled at him sweetly and said. "No, you didn't get any in your sleep."

Then she got up, shook her hair, and then climbed up to the driver's seat where Rogue sat, watching the others by the Rift.

The view was breathtaking.

"My that's something to see ain't it." Said Nat.

"Yes, I traveled it before. But still its something amazing."

Indeed, the canyon on the other side showed revealed the majesty of the land beneath and the great powers of the earth below them.

Jim had gotten up and moved towards the edge of the rift to join the others. He kept looking up to say something to Gruug who seemed enthusiastic to make new friends.

Nat found a seat and reached back for a loaf of hard bread that she had bought. She offered Rogue a bite, and Rogue gladly accepted. Then Rogue took a long draft of water before handing the canteen to Nat.

"What do you think of Talon, Rogue." Asked Nat.

Rogue looked at Nat, curiously, then said. "Not sure. Don't know much about him."

"Seems kind of lonely don't he."

"Yes, I think so." Said Rogue.

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Well you seem to be driving my cart and probably will continue to be and I hardly know you. So what's your story then." Asked Nat.

 

[Gruug]

Gruug realised everyone else was stopping, and moved forward a few yards, and saw over the tops of the other Caravans, a great gorge. He though he remembered people talking about it... Rit... The rif... Ah, that's it, The Rift. Gruug thought to himself. He then went on up ahead. He stared down, and spotted that a lot of the road had erroded. Gruug moved up to where Grimm and Talon were talking.
"We are going to need to do something about those roads. Do you have any shovels? Because I think I know how to make those roads a bit wider." Gruug said, and then elaborated on his plan.
"You see, if we dig through a meter or so into side of the road where it is worst erroded, and then dig down at a slant, you will be able to widen the road a bit. Will take a bit of time. Although, the old saying, better to be safe than sorry. I would be willing to help, but you will need more than just me if you want to do what I propose." Explained Gruug to Grimm and Talon.

 

[welsh]

The men discussed the problem of the road, but mostly waited until McReady returned with news of the road's condition. Gruugs plan was a good one, but it would be difficult. The sides of the canyon were mostly loose sediment and in other areas rock. The loose dirt could slide and the rock face would need blasting or bridge building to go around. But first they would need to learn more about the road.

While most of the men talked, Virgil, Jim and Gruug went back to see what they could do for Nat's wagon. Gruug provided much of the power lifting allowing the ghoul and human to do what repairs they could.

Hook had finally come up and instructed Talon to look to the security of the caravan, especially the bulls. This close to the Rift, a stampede could send the bulls over and the caravan would be essentially stranded. Meanwhile Hook tried to contact the house in the canyon below. Apparenly it served as a Borderpatrol check point, but so far they had seen no signs of life. Hook had no luck raising the house on his radio.

McReady finally came up, tired and sweaty. He took a long drink from a canteen before conferring with Reed.

"We're going to have to do some improvising. There are parts of the road that got washed out and need repair. But the ground is so damn soft that I doubt we'll be able to get all the carts and all the cargo down."

"Damn it McReady, you know the next crossing point is days away, and who's to say what condition that's in." Said Reed.

"Well, we could try to rig a pully and rope over the edge of the cliff and then try to lower some of the cargo, maybe some of the carts too. It will take time, but then the rest of the crew could be working the road. I am worried about the brahma, but I guess if we send them down slowly we can move the herd alright. "

"How much delay." Asked Reed.

"Couple of days." Said McReady.

"Well lets get to it." Said Reed, and the work began.

 

[Rogue Hex]

ICC-

“My story?” Exclaimed Rogue

“Yea, figured we should get too know each other a little better, you know as were gonna be spending a little time in each others company.” Smiled Nat.

It made sense, besides it was good to be able to chat to someone about every one in a while.

“Well, I was born and raised on a small farm on the out skirts of a town; don’t really remember the name, t’was so long ago now.”

Nat listened contently as Rogue continued with a quick summary of her life story.

“When I was but a little girl, some people came to our farm.” Rogue hesitated before continuing but felt it would be better to tell Nat everything.

“Well, these people you see, they came for my parents. They came to take them to some where.” Said Rogue.

“You mean you were left alone when you were little.” Asked Nat, Rogue nodded silently in reply.

“With my parents gone and my older brother too, I had nobody. I was still yet too young to know what had happened or even what too do.”

“So what did you do?” Asked Nat.

“Well, our farm used to be a stop off for caravans and travelling merchants. Many people used to come on a night and there would be great party's meals.” Rogue smiled as she describes what the meals were like to Nat using over blown hand gestures as she did so.

“Well, when one of these caravans came along, they found me alone and took me with them.” Said Rogue.

“I was taken in by the wife of the caravan chief and look after well but I didn’t stay long.”

“How come?” Queried Nat.

“Well, the minute I was older enough, I wanted to know what had happened to my family and possibly find them, I was so sure that I could, that I would find them.” Said Rogue.

“That was the day I took a job on their caravan, ended up working with them for some time.
I travelled the wastes with the caravan from town to town, searching for my parents as we went.” Exclaimed Rogue.

“So is Reed the man that took you in?” Asked Nat rather curiosly.

“Oh god no." Replied Rogue laughing hard.

“I joined this caravan in a town called Tabis, that’s where I met Grim, Gabriel and some of the others. It is with them that I joined this caravan.”

Rogue continued to tell Nat about some of the events that had happened over the days she had spent in Tabis.
She described about how they had met Talon and the fight against the deathclaws.

Nat listened to Rogue's tale like a child to a fantasy story. She was shocked at what she heard and kinda impressed at the same time. Not just about Rogue but about them all.
Deathclaws were nothing strange to Nat but she had yet to ever fight one never mind an entire horde of the beasts.

Rogue told her how Talon and the other slavers had helped them during the escape.
Maybe this would ease up Nat’s opinion of Talon thought Rogue.

Ibis headed up to where Nat and Rogue were sat talking.

He shouted over to Rogue as he approached the cart.

“Have you experience any itching my dear?” Asked Ibis.

“No, not that I can think of…but I did have some bites on my arm last night.” Replied Rogue rolling her sleeve up to show Ibis but the small red marks were gone.”

“Oh, I guess they went done.” Said Rogue surprised. “Probably just some Flea bites of those damn dogs.” She laughed.

Ibis smiled back, not exactly what he wanted to hear, people could fall ill so quickly with the deadly desease which those fleas were carrying.”

“Well, if you feel unwell or feel anything abnormal like a fever or suden tiredness then come see me fast.” Said Ibis turning back to his cart. He was whispering something to him self as he went.

Rogue eyed the old man curiously for a few seconds and then thought better. Forgetting about it, she truned back to continue her conversation with Nat.

"So did you ever find your parents?" Asked Nat

Rogue smiled, "No...never."

OOC- Not sure if Ibis had any of those vacins left so i didn't have him give Rogue one.

 

[welsh]

Reed broke the caravan into groups. One group would set up pulleys to lower goods down to the canyon floor from the edge. The second group would try to clear a road for the carts and the Brahma. Two other groups would provide security. One, at the top of the Rift and the other on the canyon floor.

The men used what wood and building materials they could find, but soon had to dissemble the carts for their needs. Later, they would reassemble the carts the best they could. Chances are they would sacrifice a few of the carts along the way, but that was par the course in the caravan business.

Jim and Virgil were working together preparing the tripods that would buttress the winches to carry supplies down to the canyon floor. Nat tried to help out by bringing water to the men who were working. Ibis was taking inventory while Cerebus hunted small game.

Some distance from where the men work, the Brahma were left to graze with only a couple of guards to watch over them.

The men broke off into crews. Some unloading and preparing the cargo to be lowered to the canyon floor, others heaved at the ropes. Far below them a few men were moving to unload the cargo that was lowered as well as to prepare security for the cargo. Most of the men went to work on the road, with shovels and picks, as well as dynamite for blasting away rock.

Hook grew frustrated at trying to raise the checkpoint on the radio. For unknown reasons the Borderpatrol check point wasn't answering.

"Damn, they ain't answering or they can't." He said.

"Then we need to send in someone to check it out. If its a trap better we know about it." Said Reed.

Hook nodded. The safety of the caravan was the first concern, and if someone had taken out the checkpoint, they might still be about. "Alright, I'll take a small group with me."

McReady had been standing around unsure what to do and wanting to go down and move. Hearing that a small group was off to the check point perked his interest. "Alright, I'll go and take you down."

But Reed shook his head. "Like hell. If its a trap I can't afford to lose my only scout. I''ll need you to find another way around the Rift. Grim, you get to scout this duty."

Gruug who was heaving on the pulley, adding his bulk and strength, also overheard. "I go too."

"No, we need you here." Said Reed, sternly. "You got the strength of three men, and we need strength on the pulleys and on the road. Can't afford to lose you."

Gruug didn't speak and turned around, a bit confused and surprised to hear that someone, especially Reed, thought his services were valuable.

"Blade and Buffy, you two go with Hook. Keep a sharp eye out." Said Reed.

"I'll go." Said Rogue.

"Not with that leg." Said Grim, "Besides I think the security would do well with your eye from up here. I'll take Gabe though."

Gabriel had been sitting nearby, doing security on the edge, spending most of his time sharpening his long knives.

Hook looked over at the man in black who had spent so much time outside the caravan, and still wasn't sure if he could trust him. But he would feel better if Gabe was with them going to the house then back at the caravan where no one was watching. "Alright. He's in."

"Alright, then go check it out and come on back. If there's company, get at least one of you back to let us know about it. Be safe."

McReady spoke. "Take extra water. It gets damn hot down there in the canyon. Watch for tracks near and in the water. No unnecessary chances."

Grim nodded, but Hook had already started down the hill. THe others hurried to catch up.

 

[Gruug]

Gruug silently wished them good luck. He hoped they would not need it. After all, the little house might just have a broken radio and the people there waiting for someone to come through to exchange parts to help them fix it. Gruug wondered why anyone would want to lay a trap for the caravan. The only reason Gruug could think of, was if someone really needed supplies.But then could they not trade for them? And if they needed supplies, how could they make a trap? Oh well, time to concentrate on the task at hand.

 

[welsh]

It took the small group almost an hour to reach the bottom of the canyon. Parts of the road down and disappeared from the canyon wall, and the caravan men tried to dig new roads or improvise where they could. Reed, overseeing much of the work, earned his stripes as caravan chief. He seemed everywhere at once, instructing work crews, patiently listening to provlems and coming up with creative solutions. Always, time was a factor.

At the bottom the small group spread out across the road. There were no visible tracks. Any marks left by past travelers had been destroyed by wind or rain. Although the road remained hard due to accumulated stone and pebbles, much of the land was soft red earth in which feet would sink making the journey more arduous.

It took another hour to reach the house. They moved low, trying to use the waist high grass as cover, using what depressions the land allowed to get close. The last few hunderd yards they moved at crawl space.

Still there was no sign of life from the house.

Hook kept his hand level and waved downward- stay down.

Then he point a finger at Blade and Buffy, then made a circle before coming back in- Go around back and then try from the rear.
Then Hook pointed at Grim and Gabe, signalling that each would come at the house from either side. Hook reserved the front for himself. Then he made fist like hammer. All converge at the same time.

They nodded and seperated, crawling to the high grass till they were each less than a 100 meters from the building.

 

[welsh]

Hook gave the signal and moved, quicker that Grim would have thought, for the front door. Buffy and Blade moved around to the back door while Grim and Gabriel each converged on the sides.

Grim peaked in the window, but it was too dark inside. Then went under it to move towards the front. As he came around the corner he could see Gabriel was ready with both his 9mm Berrettas ready. Hook waited in front of the door, his rifle slung and a handsized submachine gun ready.

There was a bad smell in the air. The smell of old blood, or innards that have been out too long.

They waited for a moment, and listened.

But there were no sounds.

Hook turned the door quickly and opened it, darting inside to the left. Gabriel followed to the right. Grim kept his guns trained out, in case this was a trap someone was setting, trying to draw them into the building.

But there was no one. Just a breeze picking up and carrying the awful smells from within.

Grim could spell the powerful putrid odors as soon as the door opened. The first thing he noticed was the large insects that were crawling through the door frame.

Still no shots.

Hook called out. "Anyone here. Crooked Christ, it stinks."

No answer.

"No one's here." Said Garbiel, his eyes adjusting to the dark even as the smells nearly overcame him.

Blade and Buffy went through the back door, entering first a store room and then the kitchen. Even in the other room they could smell the stink.

Blade, covered the room with his M-16 while Buffy found a candle to light. But the storeroom and the kitchen were deserted. Quickly, without orders Buffy opened up the windows to get some air in.

"No one back here." Called Blade, "We're coming up."

"Alright." Said Hook, "Gabriel, open some windows and get some light in. Grim?"

"Nothing out here." Replied Grim. "I'm going out some and doing a perimeter of 100 yards just to be sure."

"Right." Said Hook.

Gabriel opened up the window shutters flooding light in the room. That's when Hook noticed that the floor of the building was covered with maggots. They were everywhere, a living carpet on the floor.

But more noticeable was the carcass of the Brahman in the middle of the room. All the skin and organs, everything but the bone had been removed from the carcasses head. One of the skeletal heads was on the the floor, but the second was lieing a large metal bowl were it have submerged in bloody water. The rest of the dead creature was lieing, its belly opened releasing the bloated organs into the room which were now being consumed by countless insects.

Buffy and Blade stopped cold in their tracks when they came into the room. Buffy said "Jeezus," and turned away to walk out the back door, from where the others could here her vomit.

Blade struggled to keep himself under control. "No sign of anybody back there."

"Check behind that door" Hook gestered, "See about the bunk and radio room."

Gabriel joined Blade as he checked out the room while Hook looked at the corpse of the mutant cow, until he could stand the smell no more.

The men talked outside the house.

The radio had been destroyed. It looked as if someone had taken a crowbar to the system and Gabriel doubted it was recoverable, but maybe Virgil might be able to do something. Blade said there was no sign of the Bordermen, that there was no trace of anyone having ever been there. Althought there were some stores in the kitchen and store room, the soldier's supplies were all gone.

Buffy had gone out to where Grim was patrolling, and together they had done the route around. But there were no signs of tracks of anyone except the small group going into the house.

Grim stepped into the house and disappeared for about half an hour. then walked out again, shaking his head.

"What the fuck was that all about." Asked Blade, finally asking the question everyone was thinking.

"Seems like someone brought the Brahma in to slaughter and left half way in the job. But who?" Said Buffy.

"Never seen that before." Said Grim. "And there isn't sign of otherwise struggle and if its raiders, they left a lot behind."

"But where are the Bordermen that are supposed to be here." Said Hook.

Gabriel listened but had nothing to add.

Grim looked over at the river. "It's possible that there are tracks on the other side of the river and I think we need to check to see if we can ford across."

Hook nodded. Since the discovery of the cow and the absence of the borderman he had become more taciturned.

Gabe looked up at the sky. The sun was beginning to dip low. Through his binoculars he could see back to the edge. Much of the cargo had been successfullly lowered and the road crew had advanced considerably. "The caravan should be able to get down by dark. But I doubt they could make it across to the other side. This would be a pretty good spot to hold for the evening. That or across the river."

"Alright. We can clean up this mess later. Grim, Gabe and Buffy, I want you checking out the river crossing. Blade you're with me. We're heading back to the caravan. Grim, you were a badge once. When you're finished with the river, I'd like you to take a careful look and see if you can find any clues."

Grim nodded, even if no one wanted to venture back into the house.

 

[welsh]

Further away-

Marcus screamed as they drew the blade across his bottom of his feet. He knew his feet, his entire body was criss crossed with wounds.

He struggled to free himself, but his arms were tied down. There was no escape.

They laughed.

This had been going on for days.

He could feel the dampness in the wood caused by his blood. He knew only darkness and pain, although he could feel the warmth of the sun on his skin.

"What did you do with my eyes!" He demanded.

"You won't need them anymore." THey responded calmly.

Things had been dark so long. Without his eyes, he had lost track of time and the torture seemed to go on forever.

They would cut him, then heal him, then cut him again.

"What do you want of me?" He would ask.

"We want you to understand." They replied.

"What, what do you want me to understand?" He demanded.

"The things that are." They replied, as if it made all the sense in the world.

He would scream that he understood. That he understood how things are. Yes, understanding was good.

But they were not fooled.

And the torture would continue.

"I won't tell you, I won't tell you what you want to know." He promised.

"But we have not asked you anything." They responded.

Indeed, they never asked him anything.

But he told them everything just the same.

 

[welsh]

It was nearing dark when road crew had finished their work. What cargo that could have been lowered was lowered to the bottom and the road was strong enough to let the carts down.

But the entire movement would requrie that the caravan be reloaded, the carts repaired and restored, the brahma herd brought down. Reed, in consultation with Hook, figured the best thing to do would be be to bring the carts down first and rebuild them. The pulley lifts would be broken down and brought to the bottom and a camp would be established there. By carefully lighting the road, the carts would be able to get down the road in the dark. The herd would be brought down more slowly in order to minimize the risk of a bull walking over the ledge as well as minimize damage to the road itself.

It was not until long after the sun had set that the caravan had been able to move itself from the edge to the base of the canyon. The Brahma cattle were left to graze on what vegetation they could while the mean set to rebuilding and reloading for the next day.

Once the road crew had been finished, Hook sent a group of men to clean out the canyon checkpoint. The crew carried out the grisley task of removing the Brahma carcass which they lit afire. Then they poured water on the floor and tried to scrub out what remained.

Grim, Buffy and Blade had managed to check the cross point. The river was rougher than it should be, but shallow enough to let the carts pass. Even so, they would have to be careful not to lose some of the weaker Brahma to the current.

McReady, having little to do, was again scouting ahead. He and the tribal scouts crossed the river and continued to the far side of the canyon, only returning after the Brahma had all been moved from the canyon edge to its base. He reported little. No signs of life and the road up from the canyon seemed in better condition than the one leading in.

Grim spent most of the rest of the day at the checkpoint, investigating. The Border checkpoint was generously provisioned and there seemed little chance that their had been a raider attack. Yet he could find no explanations as to what had happened to the Borderman or the reason why the dead Brahma had been left inside. From what he could tell, the creature had been killed almost a week ago and slaughtered with a knife. Why? THere were no clues.

That night, the camp site was rough with the men sleeping early. It had been a hard day and they would get little rest before sun Grim sought out Rogue to tell her what he had seen.

 

[Gruug]

Whilst the others were sleeping, Gruug quietly got up, took off all his armor and laid it down. He took with him a few flares of his own.
First, he went to the house. He lit up a flair and searched the walls... There! There was a slight dent, which would have been caused in a struggle. Obviously they had not combed the area with there fingers. Gruug found a few more. And one dent the size of the head, concealed on the back of the door of a cuboard.

"Next, I'll go check the river..." Said Gruug to himself.
"Oh no you won't." Said a voice behind him, and almost fell as he whiped around to see Grimm standing there.

 

[Rogue Hex]

OOC-This is a little behind Smars post but it brings it back up to pace.

ICC-

Rogue stretched out on the back of the cart, he back ached of the hard wooden seats. She had nearly forgotten what it was like to be on a caravan.

For her, the day had brought little excitement. Rogues injury had prevented her from participating in any of the labour or even the scouting. In fact she could do damn near to nothing apart from watch and she hated it. Not being active. She felt so damn useless.

Every now and then she would scout around with her rifle but there was never anything to see. She tried to watch what the scouting party were doing but even they eventually disappeared beyond her sights.

For a little while Rogue had helped Ibis with the inventory work. Chatting casually about his old life and how he had came to be in Tabis.
Ibis had used the opportunity to change the dressing on her leg. He said that it would be better soon. Yea right, it seemed like it would never get better. She was like a bird without wings, useless to every one.

Rogue watched as the camp slowly drifted to sleep. They all looked exhausted from the day’s duties.

But no not her, she was still awake and bored as ever.

She watched as Grim made his way over to her cart, side stepping the mass of sleeping body’s on the floor.

“Hey you, good scouting trip? I heard you found some nice things down there.” Smiled Rogue.

Grim smiled back, “I’ll say, damn weird though.”

Grim continued on telling Rogue about what had been found and the rest of the day’s events.

The two continued to talk but where halted by sounds from out beyond the cams controlled perimeter.

“Guard change? Asked Rogue.

“No yet, not supposed to be anyone out beyond this point.” Replied Grim looking out into the darkness.

Rogues cart had been placed out on point and set as a boundary for the camp.

“I bet go see.” Said Grim.


Rogue reached for her rifle but Grim through her a warning full look.

“Not with that leg you aint, stay here, if I don’t come back in 10 minutes warn Hook.”

“Shouldn’t you wait for someone? Going out alone isn’t a good idea.”

Grim shook his head, “I have to go now or we could lose them.” At that Grim disappeared into the darkness with little sound.

“Fuck.” She cursed. This wasn’t good. If they were hostile the Grim could be in trouble.

“Gabriel.” Rogue whispered to her self.

Jumping down from the cart, Rogue hobbled the best she could to where Gabriel was on guard.

She searched as she went for Hook, he would need to be told about this.