Aberrant: Dead Rising - Late Arrival

[Priest]

It was late at night when Priest and Bond arrived. It took some arguing (and the late night hour) to get Bond inside. Priest vouched for him so that he could come in with his weapon ... and his trade goods. They parted ways as even Bond, James Bond needed a few hours of sleep before meeting the hundreds that called this place home.

When Bond got in, Colt was up standing his turn at watch. He took one look at the charred Priest and banged on the rear camper of the truck,

"Leo," he yelled. Leo popped out, pistol in hand then gave him an "Oh crap!"

She disappeared back into the cab. Sarah took a look out.

"Daddy?"

"I'm okay Honey. Lie back down. Daddy's got to take care of some business.

"Boss, how did this happen. I thought ..."

"Long story Colt. Didn't anyone come and tell you what happened? For that matter, were's that asshole James? Did Fox do anything about him?"

Priest was afraid of what the answers would be. Nothing had been done about James. Everyone would assume his maiming was punishment enough. No, punishment enough would be something far worse. Hell, the man had almost killed him ... but if Scavangers didn't count the same as townies, then what recourse had he.

Maybe it was time to leave, before the price tag for being here went beyond a pound of flesh. Damn it, his people were replaceable.

[Fox]

Tired though he was, Bond was good to his word to see Priest back safe to his 'family'. The tall merc helped his injured friend up to the footplate of the large semi, where he sat somewhat painfully as the members of his band gathered round. They were so shocked (and disturbed) at seeing their supposedly savvy chief and father-figure so terribly injured that they barely spared more than a few nods of greeting for the Brit they'd met a couple months back. Priest was wearing a survival blanket from the Falcon over the tattered remnants of his clothing, and had spent most of the trip down picking bits of shrapnel from his armor and weapons from his skin with some tweezers. He was heavily bandaged, and the smell of antibiotic cream was heavy around the man, but his eyes were snapping with irritation and anger.

Once Priest was comfortable, Bond stepped away and headed over to the Falcon once more, returning with a bottle of J.D. Taking a swig, he handed it off to Priest and leaned against the semi casually, watching and listening.

[Dawn OOC]

Sarah came out of the cab, her tiny eyes wide in the dark. She looked a little like she was trying not to cry, but she didn't. She just leaned gently into her daddy and hugged him softly.

Bethany knelt next to him, looking over his wounds. "What happened, Priest?"

Leo came out, calling, "Sarah, you dad wants you in here!" Sarah ignored her as Leo put the medical supplies down and began to check Priest's wounds with her professional eye.

[Priest]

"Daddy's going to be fine, Honey," he said slowly pushing Sarah away. "Leo has to look at my wounds. Can you get my spare vest?"

He looked at Bethany even as he let Leo get in and work her corrections on his medical service to date.

"James - Violet's James - blew me up. Did a good job of killing me, but an even better job of trying to kill himself. He decided that a single episode of A-Team was enough explosive experience for him to attempt to disarm a bomb at the Religious compound by lifting hit up."

"On the up side, I got over my anger and provided him some first aid. The down side is that the bastard regenerates so he had most of his flesh back by the time they left with the sled. I elected to guide Bond back."

"I'm sure that you all remember James Bond here. He's going to be hanging around the compound for a week or so. Seems a refuge with a dozen supers in it is a profit making opportunity."

"Ow!" he says as Leo removes some bandages.

"So, have any of you heard anything about James being punished for this?" he asks again. His loyalty to Fox hung in the balance.

[Dawn OOC]

Andy shook his head. "Not a word. Someone took a shot at a prisoner that one of the new supers brought, and things kinda went to hell. We weren't invited to the meeting, but we heard that Fox was in that for a while, trying to work things out. No word about James, beyond the fact that he got blinded." Andy's eyes narrowed. "That fuck did this to you?"

"Language," Bethany said softly, jerking her eyes at Sarah.

"No, I think this time, it's appropriate." Andy wasn't joking; his face was hard as he waited for Priest's answer.

[Priest]

"I think I give Fox what for first, Andy," Priest says. "I'll give him another chance to make a decision. Beyond that, I need to figure out what we can do that doesn't mess with Violet. I mean us to keep our word to her. Now more importantly than ever."

"As for us, we need to be looking at Dallas. One of the newbies, Jasmyne, is from the Dallas area. She wants to swing by her parent's home while we run our errands. I don't know if she's going to find closure, but we owe her the chance."

He was clearly changing the subject, giving his people something to look forward to and gear up for.

"So, any word from the Rabbit-Seller?"

[Dawn OOC]

Andy nodded. "Guy came by, left a hutch and a couple of rabbits, and a message: Strange woman's been around asking questions about you guys. Still hearing whispers on other matter we talked about. He said you'd know what he meant."

"What are we mixed up in now?" Bethany asked, not angry or upset, just quietly determined to know what was going on.

[Priest]

"Next time he comes around, give him some trade goods. He's ... he's working with Dan and I on a matter for Fox," Priest replies to Bethany. "No one go advertising that, or he's likely to end up with a Columbian neck tie."

He looks around his team.

"Rhonda, I want you to go find Dan tomorrow morning and relay that exact message. Can you do that?"

To the rest,

"I think this scouting thing is bad for the refuge. Ever since that scientific compound got busted up, I've been thinking this place - on the outside - is vulnerable. All we can do is keep the vehicles full fueled and ready to roll at a moment's notice. I wish this place was safer, but I think all these super people gathering here is going to draw trouble."

"Anyone got ideas, opinions, things they want to get off their chests? I know we've been sitting here for a few days and goods are winding down, but I hope to change that soon."

[Dawn OOC]

"Yeah, let's get the fu-huge out of here, already, Priest," Willy said. "I ain't heard anything specific, but people are really jumpy, and some of them are jumpy about you. Talking about you diggin' your hands in Fox's pocket for what you can get. It's bull, but that ain't making the voices any less loud."

[Priest]

"Well we can go around that real fast. Tomorrow go out with a hand held and start talking to people. Tell them we are going on a raid and went to know what they want picked up. Tell them they've been so welcoming we want to pay back. Get them involved and give them something to look forward to and mostly let them know this was OUR idea. No one elses."

Priest leaned back. He planned to see the doc again in the morning. What she did hurt like shit, but he knew he felt better afterwards. Next time he planned on studying her work, but right now he needed to keep his people happy.

[Dawn OOC]

"Fer free?" Willy asked, his voice incredulous.

"Yes, for free," Leo said, as always the fastest to catch on.

"It's a publicity stunt," Bethany said softly, her voice thoughtful.

"Why now?" Leo asked, frowning. "Why is it so important to get on peoples' good sides? We could just leave."

[Fox]

"And go where?" Bond asked quietly, his tone serious. "Right here is where IT will happen. There is potential here for a great deal of positive change. That's what Priest is seeing: the potential of this place and it's people." He looked at Priest with a nod. "Danger and opportunity go hand in hand. If we leave, then yes we stay out of trouble, but we also miss the opportunity to affect something big. I won't be leaving anytime soon."

"As for the goodwill gesture, it's a good idea, and you can count me in. If you give me some place to stash my goods from the Falcon, that's a lot of extra carry space right there." The Brit reached out and plucked the bottle from Priest's hand, taking another swig before handing it back.

[Priest]

"Leo, as fun as this life is ..."

"What I really mean to say is that somewhere along the line, people have gotten their fill of what us Supers can do, how we act, and what shit we've got. We either get out of here, or get to making life here more bearable. They are going to see us do it too."

"We are doing this here because this is the first real settlement we've seen were people are doing more than just surviving. If this is going to be the future, we need to be a part of this - unless anyone here wants to be fighting zombs into our golden years."

[Dawn OOC]

Leo was quiet for a moment. "But... can we do that? I mean, can we really turn this around?" She looked from Priest to the others, even throwing in a glance at Bond.

"We can do anything we want," Willy growled, his voice filled with pride. "If Priest wants us to build a future here, we can do it."

Bethany nodded slowly. "It's fine to say that, but we haven't done anything like that before." She grinned and shrugged. "What the heck, we can manage it."

[Fox]

"Of course we can." Bond said firmly in agreement with Willy and Bethany. "If everyone pulls it together, there's little we can't do. All there is is opportunity." He winked at Leo with a little half smile.

He relaxed further, needing some rest but for now interested in seeing how the conversation would go.

[Priest]

"Let's have a show of hands people. Who wants to make it a go here as a base of operations, and who wants to hit the road and consider this just another truck stop."

He had let people know were his mind lay, but he led by concencus, not by fiat. They were his tribe and he ruled by their sufferance. He hoped that is what bound them to him, and he to them.