Chapter 10:
We Have One Hell of a Plan!
Octavia makes it back to the group waiting patiently outside. Jamie rushes up to her.
"Did we gain an audience with this leader?" he asks.
She nods her head in agreement. "Follow me," she says as she leads them to the front gate. She holds her hands up, "do not shoot! Hold your fire!"
The guards stand down as they enter the camp. Jamie, Cass and Raul take in the scenery. People scurry to catch a glimpse of the visitors.
Some look at Raul with curiosity, some with fear and a few with a look of disgust. None of them had ever seen a ghoul before. Raul understood this but it never stopped bothering him. He would never admit it though.
There are whispers as the Vegas crew make their way to meet with Abby in the conference room. Bellamy notices them enter and motions for Monty and Miller to follow him. He wants to know exactly what happens in this meeting.
The three boys sneak away as the Vegas crew enter the room. Standing there is not only Abby but Marcus as well. He looks at the strangers with kind curious eyes, even at Raul. This catches the ghoul off guard. He smiles awkwardly before looking to the ground.
"Allow me to say thank you for allowing this audience," Jamie begins. "Introductions might be a good way to break the ice. I'm Jamie and I used to be a courier out west in the Mojave desert."
Marcus smiles warmly, however, Abby looks on still with distrust in her eyes. "I'm Abby. I'm chancellor of the Ark. Are you the leader of your group?"
Jamie chuckles, "I guess so but we don't really have a leader. We lead together. This is my lovely partner Sharon of Rose Cassidy but everyone calls her Cass."
"Howdy," Cass greets with a tip of her Stenson hat.
"The gentle ghoul who is our mechanics expert is Raul," Jamie says as he introduces his friend.
Raul smiles nervously and awkwardly once again as he raises his eyes to meet the unknown humans once again. "Nice place you got here. Reminds me of the vaults."
Marcus cocks his head. "Vaults?"
"We'll explain everything," Cass insists. She peers over at Marcus. "How about you? What's your name?"
"Marcus Kane," he replies softly. "I'm second-in-command here."
"Why are you here? Isn't this a long way from home?" Abby presses.
"We could ask you the same thing," Jamie says smugly. "But to answer your question, I'm looking for someone important. I'm looking for the Lone Wanderer. Heard of her?"
Abby shakes her head no but Marcus seems to have a different answer. She looks at him in surprise. He smiles nervously.
"I heard of her," he informed them. "I heard the grounders speak about her. I couldn't really understand much at the time but they did ask me about her. They thought she was one of us. They asked because they were impressed but also scared of her."
"We need to find her," Jamie says.
"Why? What's so important that you need this woman?" Abby asks.
Jamie hands her the survival guide. "That book has saved lives. She helped write it. She's also the hero of the wastes with extensive knowledge we can use."
Abby examines the book. For a moment, she Is lost in thought. She turns her gaze back to Jamie. "Use to do what exactly?"
He smiles at her. "Why, build a new world order of course. Unite everyone under one nation again."
"There's so many factions, however, that's going to be hard," Marcus says.
"Not just hard," Abby retorts as she places the book down on a table. "Impossible. We tried to make peace and-"
"War happened," Jamie says. "War, war never changes. We fought hard battles back home but we liberated it. There are strong and corrupt factions back home. They will try to conquer each other and this nation. They will conquer grounder, vault dweller, raiders, Ark people and settlers alike. We need the Lone Wanderer."
Abby's gaze shifts from Jamie to the floor. She crosses her arms over her chest. "You're going to also need my daughter."
"Where is she? Is she here?" Jamie asks.
"We have no idea where she is," Abby replies.
"Alright then," Cass says. "We find her, we find Lone Wanderer and we work together."
"You make it sound so easy," Marcus observes.
"Ain't gonna be nothing about this," Cass says somberly. "But we have to try."