A German woman with bright blonde hair, done up in a bun so that the length couldn't be seen, with pale skin and bright blue eyes, trekked through a bit of wasteland until she found the remains of a farm. The barn was still in tact, and so was the house.
"Eh..." She looked over the buildings before heading for the barn. "I guess zis is better zan nozing... Better be some seeds at ze fery leasht in here..." She mumbled to herself, armed with an ammo belt across her form, a pistol holster on her hip, and a sheathed knife on the other. The pistol itself was in her hand, ready to be used as she inched up to the barn.
Inside the barn, an Irishman with one brown eye and dark, scruffy red hair that brushed his shoulders and covered his jaw, having heard her talking, hid behind a crate in the loft, pistol in hand. If he could make it back to the house without being seen, he would, but he wasn't counting on it.
She pressed her back against the barn exterior, right next to the cracked door, and tilted her head left to glance through said crack, not about to just burst into a large building like this one. Upon seeing nothing, she inched inside, mostly sticking to the walls since then she only has to cover one side of herself, and made her way quickly up a ladder into the loft of the barn to get a better view for scouting.
He held his breath as she passed him and slowly made his way to the ladder. He made sure her back was to him and began to climb down from the loft as quickly and quietly as he could.
She happened to turn to head back down for a box she saw and saw him, immediately raising the pistol just out of habit. "Voo zee hell are jou and how zee hell did jou get up here!?" Of course, the question is mainly because she didn't see him up here.
"Shoite." he mumbled, before swinging around to the other side of the ladder, under the loft. He went down about two more rungs before jumping to the ground. He wouldn't have time to reach the door before she got down, so he stepped back into the shadows , held up his pistol, and waited.
She quickly moved towards where she saw him back into the dark, aiming in his general direction since she can see but can't see well from her current angle. "Jou are not very good at zee hiding, ja? Shtep out a moment and I'll considering not shooting jou." Well, clearly he is good at the hiding since she didn't see him before, but she meant more right this second since she can still kinda see him.
"Oi wus doin' jist gran' 'til yer turned raun, an' if yer wouldn't mind doin' so again, Oi'll gladly be on me way. Promise not ter shoot yer in de back."
"I fery seriously doubt zat jou vould not schoot me in zee bak ivv gifen zee chance. No ovvense or anyzing like zat. It's jusht business. Besides, vhy vould I trusht somevon zat I kannot see?"
He continues to back up, hoping to make it to the door before she gets down the latter.
She decided, quite literally, 'eh, fuck it,' and took a running start before jumping off the loft, barrel rolling herself behind a crate-well. More like crashing into the crate due to momentum, but hey, cover is cover. She is back on her feet and they get to actually see each other's faces as she kinda peeks out from her cover to see whereabouts he is in the barn.
At seeing her jump, he ducked behind a crate of his own. He peeked around about the same time she did, and almost immediately ducked back down. "Waaat nigh, lassy? Oi really don't want ter shoot yer."
"Jou'd haf to aim properly to schoot me, vouldn't jou? Zat is a bit hard to do ven zere are krates in zee vay." She, of course, had ducked back down behind her crate about the same time he had.
"Aye, so'tiz, but Oi'm not aboyt ter wish they were gone. Oi'm not keen on gettin' shot meself."
"Zen vee haf a bit ovv an agreement." On wanting the krates to stay exactly where they were. "Vat vere jou doing in a barn? Certainly doing somezing like zis alone is dangerous." Obviously. I mean, look at what they're doing.
"Everytin' is dangerous nigh, lass. Wheder yer are alone or not. Oi'd say bein' alone makes it less so. Yer don't 'av ter worry aboyt anyone else."
"I beg to divver. It is much easier viz somevon. Zen jou haf somevon to vatch jour bak." She paused then. "Not zat I don't enjoy talking viz somevon vile vee boz kontemplate how to get out ovv zis barn alif und all, aber haf jou been into zee house yet? I vas hoping to vind some scraps ovv kloz or somezing ovv zat nature." She figured since she's gonna be stuck here a minute trying to look for a safe way out, she might as well be halfway civil.
"Aye, might be able ter make duds oyt av de curtains, but dar's not much lef dare wort 'avin'. That's why Oi came in 'ere."
"I see, I see." She glanced at the door and started sneaking along behind crates towards it. "Vell, ivv jou haf nozing else to say, I belief I vill be on mein vay."
He peeked around the crate and, seeing her moving away, waved and ducked back behind the crate, peeking out every so often to see if she was gone yet. Once she was, he ran out the same door.
She made her way to the house, assuming that he was alone simply because she didn't see anyone in the house when she came up, and as such just kinda walked in, gun still out just in case, but not as guarded as she was in the barn.
He ran to the house as fast as he could. Upon seeing the German woman inside, he fired a warning shot just to the right of her. "Yer take wan more step into dis house an' Bejasus Oi'll put a bullet in yisser skull."
She, on instinct, whirled back and shot at him, missing by just an inch to the left. "I vould be fery carevul ivv I vere jou. Jou don't just schoot at a voman bevore asking her to dinner." She's being sassy but she's not above nailing him in the shoulder so he can't shoot her again. "I do belief jou said zat jou vere done viz zis building, so unless jou vant to get schot, I suggesht jou leaf."
"Oi'm not 'eadin' anywhere jist yet, lassy."
A woman with extremely curly, ginger hair and bright green eyes slid up to the top of the stairs, "Teige? Are ye alright?"
"Oi'm fine, wait dare!" Once again, addressing the German woman, "Oi didn't quite lie, we are done 'ere, an' if yer don't mind lettin' us walk away, naw wan 'as ter git 'urt."
She quirked an eyebrow. "I see jou don't mind trafeling viz somevon, zen." She didn't answer for a moment, mentally running through options, before settling on a reply. "I don't see zee point in schooting jou." She didn't lower her weapon, but she didn't shoot like she kould have. "Jou vere kind enough to not schoot me ven I retreated zrough zee door, and I vill allow jou zee same kindness."
"Tanks." He nodded toward the door and his companion ran out. He backed out and followed her.
The German woman watched them run and lowered her gun once Teige was out of range to shoot her. She raided the house for every scrap of fabric she could find and stuffed it all into a half-assed pack before returning home.
Once they had stopped running and the house was almost out of view, the woman finally broke the silence, "Who was that?"
Teige shrugged, "Sum German."
"There are Germans here?"
"Well, dar's at laest wan."
She looked back at the house then back to her partner. "It might be nice to have someone else with a gun around."
"Oi don't trust anyone else wi' a gun except yer, an' yer don't want wan for sum call."
"I'm just sayin."
"So am Oi."
After a couple of days, mostly consisting of walking through woods, they happened upon a small hut in a clearing. Since it appeared unguarded, they approached, thinking it could be a decent place to stay for a while, or at least have some decent stuff inside. Teige had his pistol in hand and she was behind him, just in case.
The hut door was flung open by a rather ecstatic five year old girl with dirty brown hair and matching eyes. "Mutti!~" The girl all but froze in her spot and just stared at them.
The ten year old, a boy with scrappy black hair, peeked out and stealth-grabbed the girl, yanking her back into the hut, slamming the door on the way. Since he's the older one, he peeked out the window instead of just running out.
Teige holstered his weapon and the ginger woman moved around him and joged up to the door. "Hey, we're not gonna hurt ye. We were just lookin for somewhere to stay for a little while. We can keep ye company until yer, um, "mutti" gets back, if ye'd like," she said, a warm smile on her face.
The boy didn't answer at all, just kind of peeked carefully out the window with a glare on his face cause new people he doesn't know.
The girl, on the other hand, managed to wiggle free and pop back outside like a daisy through snow.
"Hi!~ My name is Rin!~ Do you- gah!~" Her would-be question was cut off by once more being yanked into the house by the boy, who promptly slammed the door again.
"Go away! We don't need company!" For a ten year old, his voice was a tiny bit gruff, but it overall sounded adorable as shit because he's trying to be tough but he's ten.
Unfortunately, all the door slamming woke up the little infant in the room, who started screaming at the top of her lungs, and the boy vanished from the window in an attempt to calm her down.
Teige looked over at his companion , "She reminds me av yer," he said, referring to Rin. She glared at him and punched his arm, which probably hurt her more than him.
"We can't just leave em here unguarded."
He sighed, "Naw, Oi suppose we can't." He turned and leaned against the hut, hand on his gun, scanning the horizon. The woman tried to see through the window, half hoping to see Rin again, even if she could only talk to her through the glass.
Rin peeked up through the window and saw the face of the woman and squeaked at first, but managed to sneak out the door while shutting it quietly behind her.
"Hi! Sorry about Jake, he's kinda rude!" She held out her little hand. "I'm Rin!" Cute little thing just screamed cuteness.
She reached out and shook Rin's hand. "Nice to meet ye, Rin. I'm Shannan, and this is Teige." Teige gave them a sideways glance, waved, and went back to watching the surrounding area. Shannan glared at him slightly and added, "He can be kinda rude too." Teige just rolled his eyes.
Right about then a loud crash was heard and the door was flung open.
"RIN WHERE ARE-" The yell immediately ceased when he saw her but he looked so damn done with life. "Rin! You can't just go around talking to strangers!" He pulled her back into the hut. "We don't know them!"
"We didn't know Mutti either!" The littler one pouted.
"There was one of her! There are two of them! Two adults against three kids is not good odds!"
The door closed roughly again.
"The door doesn't even lock! What's the point?!" Jake grumbled weakly, mildly defeated by the much-more-social sister of his.
Rin peeked out the window. "You guys can come in!"
Jake pulled her down. "No you can't! Stay out there! I have a …. A… I have a ladle and I'm not afraid to use it!" The pauses were him frantically looking for something, and now he's wielding a ladle like it's a sword.
"'Ey, lad, Jake wus it? Is dat Rin girl your sister?"
"What's it to you?!" Jake had a mildly defensive tone, though he seemed a good bit more calm than before. He is, however, still wielding the ladle.
"Sisters are annoyin' ain't dey?" Shannan glared at him.
"...Is the lady out there your sister or somethin'?" The ladle is slowly being lowered.
"Aye, she is, an' she gets on me every last nerve, she does." Shannan was now glaring daggers at him. "So, 'oy aboyt Oi make yer a dayle; yer let Shannan dare cum in, an' if yer decide yer trust 'er, yer an' dat ladle av yers can cum oyt 'ere an' us men 'ill guard de 'ut an' not 'av ter dayle wi' any sisters for a while." He leaned over a bit and looked in the window. "'Oy does dat soun'?
Jake was quiet for a few minutes, tapping the ladle lightly against his chin. "...Okay, but if she's gonna come in here, she's gotta make sure not to wake up Lily."
Rin clapped her hands together rather happily. "Yes!~"
Jake opened up the door and stepped out, ladle in hand and Rin bolted past him to hug at Shannan's legs, just super excited at new people since it's gotta be a bit lonely there in the forest. Granted, they know why, and they like the food and stuff she brings back for them, but still. Lonely all the same.
Shannan hugged Rin back. "Let's go inside," she glared back up a Teige, "since the boys are so eager to get away from us.
Teige shrugged, "Yer wanted in de 'ut an' Oi got yer into de 'ut. Waaat more do yer want from me?" Shannan shook her head and walked inside. Teige rolled his eyes, "Women."
"Sisters." Jake corrected. "Mutti isn't near as bad as Rin is."
Rin, of course, followed Shannan in near instantly since new friend.
Teige looked down at Jake for a moment before asking him, "Waaat do yer do wi' dat ladle?
Jake looked down at it for a moment. "...It's all Mutti left in the house, so… I use it kinda like a really crappy sword. I had a pocket knife, but Rin cut herself on it, so Mutti asked that I fork it over for when she's not home."
Not the answer he expected, but, "Yer really couldn't fend anytin' better ter use? A plank av wud, a wooden spoon, a shoe even?"
Jake rubbed the back of his hand. "Ah… No… See… There's an infant in there… So… Mutti kind of… Child proofed the hut… Don't ask me how, but she's rather intent on making sure Rin and Lily don't get hurt. I think this is the best I can do in there. She did say when I turn fifteen I could have a handgun, and I thought if I could maybe break the end of the ladle and sharpen it, then… Makeshift shiv."
"Dat'd be clever, if you're able ter do it. Dough, if she's so intent on keepin' yer guys safe, why wud she leave yer unarmed?" He wasn't trying to be mean or anything, he really just didn't get it.
"I didn't get it at first either, since she can be gone a while sometimes, but I think it's just because of Rin and Lily. If Lily fell out her little bed onto something, she'd be hurt pretty bad and… I guess to Mutti it'd be horrible to come home to us dead, but it'd prolly kill her more to know we only died because she left something sharp here at the hut and that's what killed us." Like them playing with the sharp thing and doing something stupid, then bleeding out and that kind of thing.
Teige reached into his pocket, "Well if dat's al'," he held a pocket knife out to Jake, "Yer can 'ang on ter dis as long as we're 'ere. Shannan's a nurse, wus gonna school ter be a doctor, so if anyone gets 'urt, she can take care av it. Dough, Oi chancer you're a smart lad an' it won't be an issue."
Jake looked at it and tilted his head. "I dunno. Letting you guys near my hut is one thing, but…" Jake looked up at him. "How do I know this isn't a trap? Like one really really elaborate trap? Cause I feel like this is supposed to be like a bad pun or something."
Teige squatted down to Jake's level, still offering the knife, "Luk, Jake, Oi'm not wan for subtlety. If Oi wus gonna 'urt any av yer, Oi wud 'av by nigh, wouldn't 'av been 'ard, but, lucky yer, it wus us dat foun' yer an' not someone or sometin' else. Oi hate de idea av a bunch av kids sittin' raun loike ducks waitin' for a 'unter ter cum along. So, as long as you're oyt 'ere, Oi'd rather yer be armed. Besides," he tapped his left cheek, pointing to the patch over his eye, "Oi nade yer ter watch me blind side."
This got the biggest smile from Jake. Mostly because it was so stupidly real. "All right. But only 'cause you have a blind side." He then accepted the pocket knife and looked rather content. He was all too aware that Teige probably didn't need him to watch anything, considering he was far older, but it made Jake feel useful. Teige probably just made a friend for life right there whether he wanted to or not.
About an hour or so of them being there, the German woman emerged from the treeline, pistol in the holster for a change, though it was so very quickly snatched out the holster at seeing Teige.
"Vat zee hell are jou doing near mein home!?" If there weren't children in said home, she would have fired a few times by now. "Vere zee hell is zee ozer von ovv jou?!"
Teige was reaching for his own pistol until he saw who it was. He instead crossed his arms and laughed. "'ey, lassy. Oi'll be 'onest, Oi didn't peg yer as de moterly type."
"I'm not a Gott verdammt 'lazzy', jou got zat!?" She growled. "Vere is zee ozer von of jou?"
Right about then, Rin burst out of the hut, all but yelping 'mutti' in her happy childish tone, before rushing over to launch a hug attack against one of her's legs.
"They're okay, mutti!"
"Nein, zey are mosht certainly not 'o-kay'. Zey are shtrangers and zey need to leave mein hut." Pointed stare at Teige. She doesn't mean to be mean, but babies.
"Luk, dey're al' gran'. We were jist waitin' for yer ter git back. Naw sense leavin' a bunch av kids by their lonesum. Especially unarmed an' witoyt so much as a lockable dure."
"And I am supposed to trusht jou, vhy?" She lowered the pistol only because he didn't have his weapon pulled. "Zese are mein charges vee are talking about." She paused a moment. "Zee hell is a 'dure' supposed to be?"
Shannan, who had been watching from the window, peeked out the front door and pointed at it, "One a these."
Teige rolled his eyes, "Me accent is not dat theck."
"It's pretty thick."
"Zat is fery klearly a 'door'. Note zee 'oar' sound in zere." She holstered her pistol then and scooped Rin onto her hip rather easily, considering that Rin was lighter than most crap she carried, and she began walking up to the hut, still kinda uneasy but dealing with it for the moment. "How did jou two vind mein hut? I zought I vas out ovv zee vay enough to afoid zis kind ivv intrusion."
"Oi don't tink anytin' is oyt av de way enoof ter be immune. Be glad someone else didn't fend it first."
"Or something."
"Zat vas zee idea." She set Rin down just outside the door, and Rin being Rin, promptly skipped inside. "I vill need to mof now zat somevon has vound zis place." She brushed past them into the hut, first priority now that things aren't tense being to check on the infant.
Shannan followed her inside. "Or, ye don't have to worry so much now. I mean, I'm a nurse an Teige is a great guard. We could watch them while yer gone."
"Dat'd be extra mouts ter feed, Shannan. 'tis 'ard enoof ter fend food."
"But less worry." She turned back to the German woman, "It's up to ye, of course, but I would like to help, and we could use the company."
"Since whaen?"
"Since forever."
"You're aff your nut."
"I think bein antisocial would make ye the crazy one."
The German woman pulled some scrap cloth from her pack and carefully tucked it around the babe as extra warmth, mulling things over while she did.
"Vood is not a problem." She moved over to a hatch and opened it, revealing a stash of food that, for just her family of four, well three really, would last about two weeks, but with two more mouths, more like a week and a half. Longer if they're smart.
"I alvays keep a heafy shtock due to zee kinder." She looked over at them. "I vill allow jou in mein home simply bekause I need somevon here viz zem. Rin got an invektion zee lasht time I levt a poket knive here," pointed look at Jake and his new poket knife, "ozervise Jake vould haf kept his. It vas not his vault, aber I did not vant to try and battle zat again ven herbs and medikation is so rare. Not to mention zee amount ovv shtress it put on him zinking it vas his vault." She moved her gaze to Shannan.
"Ivv jou zink zis place is save, zen vee vill shtay. I vould not kount on shtaying here more zan a monz longer zough, as jou are zee virsht to vind it, aber viz more people komes more danger. I vould say zat by zee end ovv zee monz, at leasht von imp vill haf vound us. Aber zee are like roaches. Von means tventy."
"I'm glad we won't be hurtin' ye for food. As far as infection, any wound from a pocket knife would be nothin' compared to havin' to keep that eejit's eye socket clean," she pointed back at Teige, getting a slight glare, "and I managed that pretty well if I do say so myself. Oh! And I can help with imps too." She reached into her bag and pulled out a rosary and a bottle of holy water. "I'm Irish down to the religion. I can bless the whole area if ye'd like. I usually do it to all our hiding places. Keeps things from gettin in at least."
"Zat vould be fery helpvul." She looked to Teige then. "I know zat jou are handy viz jour veapon zere, and I'm assuming jou vould like to shtay klose. Ivv I'm to have jou two here, vould jou mind keeping posht? Zere are usually no dishturbances here, aber viz jou two here I kould scavenge vor more. Maybe I kould efen vind von ovv zose veird little karavans." The traders, she means. The ones that are actually friendly and don't jusht attak people on sight. "Is zere anyzing zat jou two require on a daily basis zat I kould pik up on mein exkursions?"
"Oi usually don't let Shannan oyt av me sight, an' never oyt av ear shot, so stayin' 'ere wouldn't be too different from normal. An', naw. We carry weapons, clothes an' waaat medical supplies we can fend an' fend grub an' shelter on de way. Dat's al' we nade."
"Any religious items are nice."
"Roi nigh, dohs are weapons."
"Not exactly." Shannan left the hut to start blessing it and the ground around it, hoping to get it all done before nightfall.
The German woman looked a bit amused at that. "Ivv I kould use mein kross as a veapon, I vould haf done so already." Her hand auto-went to the spot under her shirt where her kross was hidden. "I vould like to mention mein Name. I am Dabrina. Jou are?"
"Teige." He held out his hand and nodded toward the door, "An' dat wee bottle av sunshine is me sister, Shannan."
She shook his hand a bit firmly for a woman. "Nice to ovvicially meet jou." She looked out to check to make sure things were clear-out of habit really-then sat down in this old as hell, no idea how it's even together, wooden chair, pulling out curtains, going to sew them by hand with some scrap threads and a bone needle. Cause babies need blankets and she's gonna do her best for that.
Teige, being somewhat antisocial, as Shannan said, and not one for talking when he doesn't have to, walked back out of the hut and resumed his post by the door.