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Post by InsanityIsCool on Aug 19, 2015 22:47:11 GMT -5
Katya looked at both of them, and then down at her hands. she Hadn't expected things to turn out like this, they probably didn't know about the night in the brothel or the motel, but that was between her and polly, not something they were privy too.
"I...thank you, but...I really don't know if I'm the best choice for her." she looked over longingly at polly's sleeping form.
"She is definitely going to try to make me stay, and I truly wish that could happen but...she deserves someone who isn't a broken shell, someone who won't horrify her whenever they lose control. I wound never hurt her, but there is no doubt in my mind that I would give her nightmares. and what in in my constant nightmares, I hurt her by accident"
As she said those things, all true to katya, a sharp, burning pain wormed its way into her chest, her heart.
"I..." she looked back at the parents, sadness and grief showing, "I love her, I know I love her, but..." she looked back down at her tightening hands, her throat too constricted for more talking.
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Post by JDrew25 on Aug 20, 2015 8:45:14 GMT -5
"I think she is willing to take that chance. She sees something good in you, maybe you should see it too."
Anne stood from the table and gave the woman a hug, simply draping her arms over the woman's shoulders and holding her, letting her work through the feelings she was clearly having trouble expressing. One thing Katya was going to have to get used to was the constant hugging, apparently all members of her family were huggers.
"Besides, I think if you tried to leave, she'd follow you. There is no injury on Earth that would stop her, I can tell you that right now. Please, stay."
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Post by InsanityIsCool on Aug 20, 2015 10:16:34 GMT -5
"I...I can try..."
that really was the best she could do at the moment, her thoughts and emotions were so jumbled that she couldn't make a decision.
she looked over longingly at polly, "I can try."
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Post by JDrew25 on Aug 20, 2015 10:58:57 GMT -5
"That's all anyone can do. Now, you look like you could use a warm bath, a good meal, and some clean clothes. Come with me, Robert can watch over Polly as she sleeps. We'll have Doc Czarnecki look her over in a few hours. She looks like she could use the rest."
Anne led Katya away, taking her outside for the first time in days, and beginning down the trail towards the settlement. The walls could be seen, smoke coming from chimneys and the sounds of people on the other side. It did look like a safe area, with no signs of raiders, insane hunters or the hungry dead.
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Post by InsanityIsCool on Aug 20, 2015 11:21:15 GMT -5
katya looked over the defences and layout of the compound with a practiced eye. it was a decent setup she decided, good sturdy walls and a gate, evenly spaced housing for ease of navigating and there seemed to be patrols that actually payed attention. though there were some things to be improved, regularly spaced guard towers, increased patrols, better weapons training, lookout posts with signalling. the list continued, but she kept silent for now, she was only 22 and these people had been surviving this way for years, her step-parents training not-withstanding.
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Post by JDrew25 on Aug 20, 2015 11:41:18 GMT -5
"We do a lot of farming here, more than a few settlements come and trade for grain, potatoes, and of course Joe's whiskey. I only hope one day that still of his doesn't explode."
Anne led the woman into the main gates, the guards overhead waving as they opened the heavy doors and let them in. As they walked, people would say hi, or give Katya a quizzical look before passing on. While strangers were fairly common in the settlement, she had the look of a fighter, not the usual traders they saw. Still, no one was hostile, or even acting on edge. Evidently Polly's family was well-known in the community, and obviously trusted.
"We have recently added more of the homes to the inner area. Before the world fell apart, this used to be a housing community. We built a wall around part of it, and as we grew, we rebuilt and expanded the perimeter. We just did that again, and currently have twenty homes we are rebuilding for new arrivals. We have a few still unoccupied or unclaimed. I think Polly would like to perhaps have her own home with you. Would you like to look at them?"
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Post by InsanityIsCool on Aug 20, 2015 11:48:55 GMT -5
"Sure, but later I would like a tour of your defences. I'm sorry if I sound pompous but I already have a list of what could be better, factoring in the need for likely expansion of the perimeter. also do you know the average competency of your compounds guards? gun handling, standard of discipline, hand to hand, communication, etc?"
they came up to a few houses near the perimeter, they were simple but they seemed nice enough.
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Post by JDrew25 on Aug 20, 2015 12:26:16 GMT -5
Anne shook her head, a smile coming her face, the same lopsided one Polly gave her. She could see she was a lot more like her mother than her father. Almost the same shape, and she could see that while the woman was easily in her early 50's, she still looked healthy with only a hint of grey in her honey blonde hair.
"Sorry my dear. I'm a farmer, and would know little about that. You'd want to talk to the guards, and the guard captain."
She pointed to a man wearing faded fatigues, a strong-looking older gentleman giving orders to the men on a portion of wall that was being rebuilt. He seemed to know what he was doing, but only talking with the man herself would confirm that.
"That's Colonel Holt. He's been with us almost since the settlement was created. He can be a bit of an ass, but he knows what he is doing, and listens to us. He's on the settlement council, and I'm sure he will want to hear all about those hunters you ran into before."
Polly stirred in her sleep, feeling someone sitting on the bedside near her. She thought it was Katya at first, but when she looked up she saw it was her father. She smiled, trying to stretch a little without hurting her back, and pulled the covers up a little more, getting comfortable.
"Where is everyone? Katya didn't leave did she?"
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Post by InsanityIsCool on Aug 20, 2015 12:43:51 GMT -5
"from what that one we interrogated told us it sounded like it was organised and had been going on for some time, at least 2 years from what I gathered by his tone when talking about it, probably more."
she took note of the guard captain, colonel holt. obvious military, but whether he was a pen pusher or an officer worthy of leading men into battle was yet to be discovered, though it seemed to veer towards the latter.
it was then that the colonel noticed them, noticed her, and he suddenly frowned.
"I do believe that the colonel thinks I'm a potential problem. good, he seems to know a trained killer when he see's one."
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Post by JDrew25 on Aug 20, 2015 14:34:06 GMT -5
"Sometimes, he can think everyone is a potential problem."
Anne waved to the man, and watched as he started coming their way. Nothing about his demeanor or body language seemed hostile, but it wasn't exactly friendly either.
"Just humor him, and we'll see if he likes any of your ideas."
As the man came over, Katya could see he topped a little over six feet, and clearly kept himself in shape. As he got closer, Katya could see that he was closer to 60 than 50, and his eyes had the look of both survivor and predator.
"Bringing in more strays are we, Mrs. Clark? This one has the look of a fighter about her. She wasn't the one that brought Polly in was she?"
Evidently news of the girls return had already begun to spread. Keeping secrets in a community this tight knit was clearly not possible. Joe must have told the entire town when the girl had been found, and the woman who had carried her back for days on end without rest.
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Post by InsanityIsCool on Aug 20, 2015 14:49:49 GMT -5
"it seems that word spread's quickly around here. have you heard anything juicy or have the gossip mongers not come up with anything yet?"
the colonel's lips twitched at that, and further appraised her. "give them a day and they will say you've already taken her to bed."
Katya grinned, "who says I haven't?" Polly's mother turned to look at her in surprise, and just a bit of curiosity.
the colonel simply raised an eyebrow, "oh? well that certainly makes things interesting."
he went back to looking serious, "so what are these suggestions I hear?"
"well for a few things; guard towers along the wall at regular intervals, possibly a sniper nest overlooking the entire compound from a central area, and a clear no-man's land between the wall and the tree line, possibly 30 to 50 meters would do the trick for zeds. clear fallback positions with overlapping fields of fire would also be good. however I was originally going to keep said list of improvement ideas to myself until I knew the manpower and level of training and competency of the guards and possibly trained militia." she raised an eyebrow of her own at him.
"care to enlighten me colonel?"
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Post by JDrew25 on Aug 20, 2015 15:22:14 GMT -5
The Colonel looked impressed, and gave the woman a once over before he spoke, regarding her with a new appreciation. He had clearly not expected this, and had anticipated another scav wanting a reward for bringing the girl back to the settlement.
"We were planning on adding those after the next expansion of the wall. Now the sniper nest, I like that. Maybe more than one, multi level nest? Definitely something to show to the council."
He stopped musing, looking at Anne and Katya with a suspicious eye. The woman clearly knew more about defensive layouts than most people that lived out in the wilds, the question became why did she know so much, and why was she so interested in their defenses?
"Planning on staying are we? Why the sudden interest in our defensive capabilities?"
"Because her and Polly are planning on staying here in one of the reclaimed homes Colonel. The defenses of the settlement are now her concern as well."
Anne may have come only to the man's shoulder, but she gave him the hard glare only a protective mother could muster. The man smiled, almost like a shark, and then stepped back, giving the two women some space.
"Really? Well, since you are giving her the tour, I suppose I should leave both of you to it. Once you're settled in, you can come and inspect their training yourself. Maybe we can talk you into becoming part of the Wall Guard. We can always use more people."
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Post by InsanityIsCool on Aug 20, 2015 15:41:04 GMT -5
"Colonel, I can say this with utmost certainty that I would be better suited as either a trainer, a guard for the resource raids or as a counter-raider; finding out raider camp locations and neutralising them as a threat." katya said completely seriously.
"which brings me to another thing you should know. lately there have been organised 'hunts' in this area. the hunters kidnap, release and hunt 'the most dangerous predators', humans. its best to cease all plans for resource raids that go through the area Polly an I were attacked until you can organise armed escorts for them."
Anger started to show through her eyes, "considering the way polly was likely abducted you should have been doing that in the first place, or at least training your raiders sufficiently enough that should the need arise they can defend themselves sufficiently enough that they can either complete the mission without casualties or fight their way back here with minimal casualties. not to mention training to watch each others backs and administer emergency aid if necessary."
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Post by JDrew25 on Aug 20, 2015 16:19:40 GMT -5
"Unfortunately we don't have a lot of say in the training of the salvage teams, but after this we may have some training exercises for them. I am hoping the council can see the need for it now."
Back towards the training grounds, people were beginning to mill around, getting ready for whatever the man in store for them. Most of them were about Polly's age, late teens, and were clearly the newest recruit for the Wall Guards. The Colonel looked back towards them, and lifted his hat to the two women.
"My apologies, training awaits. Once you are settled, I'd love for you to argue your cases with the council. I don't want anyone else disappearing, or ending up as a part of one of these games."
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Post by InsanityIsCool on Aug 20, 2015 16:29:49 GMT -5
Katya nodded in agreement before the colonel went back to the recruits, back straight and shoulders back, shouting with a drill instructors volume and tone.
"reminds me somewhat of my step-parents, though my step-mom was quieter, and more scary."
she looked back at Anne, eyebrow raised. "shall we continue?"
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