Between the NeoBang and a group calling themselves "The Dusk" bombing goverment buildings and powerplants and attacking people randomly all over the United States, Canada, and Mexico, everything had gone to hell. Or maybe it was an apocalypse and we didn't know. Well we won't know untill power gets restored to the rest of the North America.

I had a lot of luck both bad and good. Bad luck, I was at the epicenter of the NeoBang. Good luck that it didn't mutate me more then amplifying my original mutation. Bad luck, the shapnel mutilated my back and legs. Good luck, Hotstreak found me and cauterised the worst of my wounds before I bled out. Bad luck, It's going to be a long time before I can walk again. If I can ever walk again. Good luck, Francis said he'd make me a wheelchair.

Francis secured the docks as our base. I'm currently working on making a security system out of what ever tech our scavengers get their hands on to keep it ours and to keep the kids safe. Yes, kids. Twenty between the ages of six and thirteen. The little ones call me Papa Richie and the older ones call me Scrap. Why Scrap? Apperantly because I can make anything out of scraps.

The main core of our group besides Francis and me are Maria, Teresa, Leo, Jacklyn, and Vincent. Who I know better as Aquamaria, Talon, Onyx, Puff, and Ferret. Lord knows I never expected to get to know them. The kids call Teresa, Nana. She put herself incharge of taking care of them. she's a natural mother. Maria can cook like no other. It didn't suprise me when I learned she had dreams of owning a resturant. I was very suprised to learn that Leo was a paramedic before the Big Bang and that he and Jacklyn were engaged. Vincent was a street kid his whole life and he knows every little hidden wiggle space in the city. not to mention he's fimiler with edible wild plants which he harvests for us when he can.

I looked up from my journal when my door opened, "Hey, Francis."

"Hey. I finished the wheelchair. Wanna take a spin?" He gestured at the chair he pushed in.

"Sure. Give me a hand?"

He picked me up from my seat and set me in the wheelchair. I rolled back and forth and turned experimentially.

"Works great." I smiled up at him and cheered spinning a full circle, "I am mobile!"

He laughed, "Now come on, Scrapy, Maria's gonna kill me if I let you eat in your room now that you have wheels."

I turned and rolled out to the dinning room where I was greeted by shouts of, "Scrap!" and "Papa Richie!" and "Yay! Now you can play with us!"

"Play can wait till after dinner." Teresa redirected the children to the makeshift dinning room.

"Thanks." I smiled gratefully at her.

"No problem. I figured you weren't up to being pounced."

"Dinner's on!" Maria called from the kitchen doorway.

I set my self in the spot free of a chair between Francis and Leo.

"How are you doing Richie?" Leo asked.

"Much better now that I'm mobile." I answered honestly, "Really glad I don't need to be carried around anymore."

"Good." He smiled at me, "Now eat, you're to skinny."

I never thought the large bang baby could be such a fusser.

Dinner was fish and wild vegetables. There was talk of starting a vegetable and herb garden and that it was going to be a long time till things were back to normal, so what should we do about school for the kids. I offered to teach math and science. subjects corsed through finding other groups of survivers from the Dusk attacks in Dakota to what more can we do to make the docks more secure to what else can we do to get more food.

After dinner I told the kids a story about one of the times I'd been kidnapped. of course I exaggerated and embellished bits to make it more exciting.

"You ready to go to bed?" Francis asked giving me a look that also asked if I was hurting. He never asked out loud for sake of my pride.

"Yeah." Right now I just wanted to lay down and cry because I hurt so bad.

He helped push me to our room he parked my chair on the side of the room oppisite of the bed. He picked me up arms around my chest and my feet set on his and he walked me across the room to the bed. By the time we got to the bed tears were streaming down my face. I know doing this kept me from losing the use of my legs, but it hurt.

He laid me down and rubbed my legs with almost-to-hot hands leaching the pain away.

"Thank you, Frankie." I whispered

"No prob, Rich."

He paused to change into his pajamas before he helped me into mine. then he crawled in behind me and curled around me. The abnormal warmth that came with his powers seeped into my body and dulled the pain.

It was a ritual we'd gotten use to over the past month.