December 19, 2010
~*~ Oscar ~*~
Oscar dries the last dish and puts it away, exchanging a tired look with Axel. They don't sleep at the same time anymore, preferring to pretend and keep watch over each other and Tiny. Awake and aware, their less savory roommates aren't going to take on the biggest prisoner, not even with that gun Tomas thinks he's got hidden.
But asleep? Yeah, they'll try. It's also why they do all the cooking. Tomas and Andrew are both lazy enough not to care as long as they get fed. Oscar knows there will come a day where hard choices will have to be made. They can't watch their backs and Tiny's forever.
"Hey, Oscar, something's happening outside."
He tosses the dish towel and hurries to where Tiny is looking out the bank of windows that face the main courtyard. There's no sound of gunfire, but the dead outside are falling, many with head wounds reminiscent of rifle fire.
"You see anything, Axel?"
The shaggy blond shakes his head, angling to look to the east, while Oscar tries the west edge of the windows. Even Andrew gets interested at last.
"That's a lot of fucking head shots," the skinny little asshole remarks.
"Gotta be military, right, Oscar?" Tiny asks.
He shrugs. "Could be. But this is Georgia. Lotta damn redneck hunters out there. Can't imagine the military would have any wish to rescue men like us if the world's gone as bad as I think. Probably after any supplies left behind."
Even Andrew's included in the worried looks they exchange.
"Not a smart idea to be standing in front of the fucking windows then, is it?" Tomas says. The cocky bastard still comes to look.
It takes about an hour for the hundreds of walking dead to fall. That's when they see the first humans in months. Two heavily armored Humvees rumble into view, followed by two semis pulling battered trailers.
"See? Gotta be after supplies with those trucks."
But that's proven wrong fairly quickly. The Humvees disgorge troops that hit the ground in groups of four. Each team spreads out among the dead, two of each team rolling bodies and stabbing them in the skull with some sort of pronged tool that reminds Oscar of a pitchfork. The remaining two stand guard, rifles at ready, moving alongside their teammates.
At some preset signal, hazmat suited people emerge from the semi trucks' sleeper cabs. A sniper climbs to the top of each trailer.
The new teams begin rolling bodies onto tarps and hauling them onto the trailers.
"They aren't here for supplies," Oscar mutters. "They're here for the prison." There's no other reason to clear out bodies. It wouldn't matter to supply raiders if they're leaving rotters behind.
"What do we do?" Tiny asks.
"Wait. Pray they need workers, maybe."
"Or we attack and escape when they come for the food," Tomas suggests.
"With what? That damned gun you got hidden ain't got enough ammo to get through all those armed men. You see the way they're moving? That's military training. We attack them and they're gonna mow us down like those monsters outside." Oscar doesn't understand the mentality of men like Tomas, where owning a gun makes them magically a badass.
"So, what do we do?" Axel's still watching out the windows.
"Be as non-threatening as possible."
Tiny sighs. Oscar understands. The sheer size of his friend makes him seem a threat. Oscar's a big guy at 6'3", but Tiny's five inches taller and fifty pounds heavier even with their time locked in here.
"Stay sitting if you can. Keep your hands in sight. Think of meeting them as gentling one of your pups."
Tiny nods and takes a seat, reaching for a deck of cards and setting up a game of solitaire.
"Axel, sit at a different table." The blond just shrugs and sits at a different table, snagging a book off the counter.
They've got access to the garden courtyard between the cafeteria and the classroom unit. Also the classroom unit itself and thank fuck for that because there's actually a bathroom on that unit and it's got the library. But they prefer the cafeteria because of all the big windows.
"Got orders for us too, cabrĂ³n?" Tomas sneers.
"Nah. You two are more than welcome to get your asses shot."
He goes back to watching the work outside while Tomas and Andrew retreat to the kitchen area to come up with whatever dumbass plan he hopes doesn't get the rest of them killed in the crossfire.
~*~ SW ~*~
Clearing the prison is going like clockwork. The outside is almost too easy, like shooting fish in a barrel. They just put shooters up on top of the semi-trailers and let them aim through the concertina wire at the top.
They found the front gates actually half open, which explains the number of civilians inside. Wander in, then too stupid to find the gap again.
Clearing the outside takes an hour, and they leave the clean-up teams to work and take two sets of three teams inside the main building. The warden's office is easy enough to find upstairs of the infirmary in the first wing, and Merle is right about it running off-grid. The electric is running here as well as it does at home, courtesy of the massive solar panel field outside.
Merle finds the map of the facility and the team leaders cluster around it as he describes it. He points at the central corridor they saw is clear. Two wings arch off the central corridor like a bug's antenna, with the inmate units at the rear like a big H.
"Came in here. Used for visitors and bad weather rec. Four blocks, each with fifty cells up and downstairs around a central common room. Got bathrooms and showers in each. Infirmary and admin offices here in this wing. Cafeteria on the other side of the main courtyard. Classroom unit on the other side of the cafeteria also houses the laundry. Then the four cell blocks with exercise yards in between buildings. Back closest to us is the rec unit. Gym downstairs, chapel and movie room upstairs. Outbuildings are for the work training and the boot camp barracks."
Scout looks thoughtful. "We'll get the outbuildings clear once we clear this one. With the bodies outside, I'm guessing someone released at least some of prisoners. Didn't go well from the number of walkers."
They only found one body on this level, a skeletonized guard who ended things himself. The infirmary below... well, at least someone put the cuffed prisoners down as they turned. There's a lot of weird skeletonish things to clear out.
"Might have rioted," Shane suggests. "Unless the warden cut TV and phone privileges, they got the same information as the general public."
"Should probably upgrade that to 'did riot'," Merle says. "No man was gonna stay locked up if he could manage otherwise knowing what was out there. They'd outnumber the guards too much, especially at this security level."
"Alright. Shane, take Daryl's and Rachel's teams. Clear the other side, starting at the cafeteria. Two teams in, one on guard. I'll take Merle's and Amanda's. We'll start at the gym and work to the inmate units."
He nods and his two team leaders follow him downstairs to the central area where the rest are waiting. "Rachel, you're on guard duty."
The woman assents and her team falls in to follow his and Daryl's. He assesses the room before he unlocks the doors and sees what a casual look didn't show. The jumpsuited men here aren't walkers.
The three he can see all raise their hands. The one in the back, a broad-shouldered, bald man, tilts his head toward the kitchen, which is open plan like most prison facilities but has counters high enough for a man to crouch behind. He also signals 'two' with his fingers.
Shane nods acknowledgement and finishes turning the key as he does the triple activation of his throat radio that signals trouble. Then he flicks his mike open and calls out, "Why don't you fellas just all step to the windows and keep your hands where we can see them?"
All three comply easily, although making the one man stand reveals he's a damn mountain in human form. He and Rick step into the room first. It's a broad, open room meant to feed about a hundred at once based on the table count.
He leads his team along the wall closest to the compliant men and stands guard with Maria while Rick and T-Dog zip tie the men. Daryl's team edges the other side of the room, keeping a wary eye on the kitchen.
"Way I see it, gentlemen, you're outnumbered. You can ditch whatever dumbass plan you're cooking up and we'll consider it the product of fearing the unknown. Or we can see how men in prison jumpsuits fare against military weapons and body armor." Shane's words echo in the big room as he keeps his weapon ready.
Behind him, he hears one of the men mumble, "Got a gun back there. Guard's. Not sure on ammo."
And apparently, the man with the gun is a complete moron, because he stands and takes aim.
It's a deadly mistake in a room full of ex-cops.
Daryl hits the kitchen before Shane, kicking the gun into the cafeteria where Brady scoops it up and clears the chamber. The wannabe gunman is choking on his own blood, hit at least four times that Shane can see.
The other man is smarter, huddled on the floor with his hands clasped behind his head. "Wasn't me, man, don't shoot me."
"How about you stand up real slow and step over your stupid friend?" Shane suggests.
The ratty little man complies, letting himself be zip tied and pushed onto a seat at a table. Shane orders the others to sit as well, keeping two seats in between. His team spreads out to stand guard over each, while Scout and Merle's team step into the cafeteria.
She sends Daryl's team to clear the storeroom and comes to stand where she can assess the four men. Wisely, none of them speak, which means the only sound is the dying man.
"Walsh?"
He recognizes the formality and answers her in Chamorro, describing the brief interactions. She nods and sits in front of the man Rick's guarding, tugging down her balaclava. "What's your name?"
They all react when they realize she's female. The huge guy relaxes, the blond seems amused, the ratty one tenses, and the whistleblower tilts his head to take a good look at her rank.
"Oscar Lowell, Staff Sergeant." He flexes a shoulder toward the two men to his right. "That's Big Tiny and Axel. Man dying behind the counter's Tomas, and his shit for brains friend is Andrew."
Ease of recognizing the rank means he's familiar with the military, maybe a vet. His tone's carefully polite.
"And how did you get locked up in the cafeteria?"
"Was in the classroom with Tiny, wing next door. Our guard got a summons back to the main floor due to a riot. He didn't lock the doors between the two units and the courtyard, but he did lock the exit into the main building. Axel was cleaning the cafeteria and the other two were on laundry roster."
She exchanges a look with her father and he nods. "Rest of you got last names?"
"Waterman, ma'am." The blond has an accent that reminds Shane of Merle's when the man reverts to what he suspects is his childhood accent.
"Prescott. Everybody calls me Big Tiny, but my mamas named me Titus."
The man Shane's guarding doesn't answer right away, so he raps the back of his head with his knuckles. "Answer the staff sergeant, and it better be the truth or you'll join your partner in the kitchen."
"Myers." The reply is sullen.
Merle snags Bryce and they leave the room, leaving Gareth and Myra behind from Merle's team for today. The two seem more curious than wary, and neither seem bothered that no one's assisting Tomas.
"I assume you're all aware the dead are cannibalizing the living now?" Scout asks.
"Bit hard to miss with all these windows," the blond volunteers. "From what we saw, some of the inmates got out, either let go or rioted, but they didn't get far. Heard a guard say they were letting the boot camp go on Governor's orders though."
"Might have been one of his last communications then. World outside isn't the one you used to know. There's no government left, no one to save the people except what we do ourselves."
"That why you're all dressed as military but only you and the sergeant over there wear any rank?" Oscar asks. "Not the same service either."
"In a nutshell. I may train my people to a military standard, but most of our troops were lost in the early days after the fall. You serve?"
"Four years in the Navy after high school."
"Sad place for a sailor to end up."
"Got stupid and got caught."
"And what did you get caught at?"
"Second degree burglary. I was seven months in on a year's sentence when we were locked in."
Scout studies him for a moment and then looks to Big Tiny. "And you, Mr. Prescott?"
"Got caught in a stolen car. Got five years. Was up for a parole hearing in August when I served my eighteen months."
"Mr. Waterman?"
"Held up a store with a water pistol. Only they didn't believe it was a water pistol when they found me and decided I used my brother's .38. Ten years without the possibility of parole. Served seven of it so far."
"That leaves you, Mr. Myers."
"Battery. Five years."
"I assume you mean aggravated battery to have a sentence that long. Or you have a string of simple battery misdemeanors. Who was your victim?"
The man just sets his jaw and refuses to answer. Shane gives him another rap on the head. "Girlfriend."
She meets Shane's eyes. Whatever she's thinking with the others, this one's not going anywhere their people are.
Merle and Bryce return with a stack of medical files and pass them to Scout.
"Let's see how truthful these gentlemen were." She flips through each one, although her glance to Big Tiny has a warmth to it that makes Shane wonder what extenuating circumstances are noted. On the last, her expression settles into the careful blank mask he saw her wear when she slit Ed Peletier's throat.
But when she looks up, it's at Axel Waterman first. "It seems the prison psychologist finds you to be a bit of a harmless misfit, Mr. Waterman, and would have recommended parole had state law allowed. Since there's no longer a state to enforce it, I'm going to consider your time served." She slides him the folder and surprising Shane, tells Maria to cut his zip ties.
The shaggy blond flexes his hands and pulls the folder close, but makes no effort to move.
"Mr. Prescott and Mr. Lowell, your files read similarly. Let them go."
T-Dog doesn't hesitate to comply and free Big Tiny, but Shane catches the pause Rick makes before he yanks his knife blade through the tie.
"What about me?" Myers whines. "What did that crazy bitch write about me? It's going to be lies, because she has it out for black men."
"If that were the case, she wouldn't have written positive notes on their progress. I'm trying to figure out what moron approved you for this facility with your history of battery convictions. Is there a female member of your family you haven't copped charges over? Your 'girlfriend' was a fifteen-year-old girl and why they didn't add statutory rape to the charges, I don't know."
Shane's seen some stupid shit by prosecutors over the years. He's betting the girl's poor and not white.
"I got the right to education as much as anyone."
'I suppose you did. I see no real evidence you were pursuing that education. In fact, the last recommendation Dr. Fuller wrote was that you be transferred to allow a bed for someone willing to do the work. If the world hadn't ended, you'd be somewhere else by now."
"You're just like that uppity bitch, judging a man by standards he can't meet. What do you know about doing prison time?"
"Today's not the first time I've stepped inside these doors, Mr. Myers. Although it has changed a bit in fifteen years. I'm well aware of what it takes for a man to come out of prison a better man than he went in. And I'm also aware that some men are beyond saving. You're a sex offender by proclivity if not by conviction. Your own words to the prison shrink damn you. There's no place for you in the world we're building."
She rises from her seat. "There will be less clean up if you take him outside. We have a prison to clear."
Shane hauls the man upright, even as he protests, shoving him along. Rick looks a little green around the gills, but the rest of his team falls in behind him as he takes the man outside.
~*~ Oscar ~*~
"Staff Sergeant!" Oscar calls out.
She turns, focusing on him with those vivid blue eyes at odds with her other coloring.
"What are we supposed to do?"
"Join a crew outside to get rid of the dead, if you like. Or walk out the front gates. You're free and pardoned of your crimes."
"If we help, does that mean we get to stay? You're not just here for supplies, and you said the world's gone outside." He wonders what that means for his kids. Surely his brother kept them safe.
"The community settling here would not welcome more men, I'm afraid. But my own might consider a few hard workers."
There's the sound of a gunshot and Oscar startles despite himself. Andrew's been suspected by other inmates of slipping through the cracks. He supposes now the penalty for sex crimes is severe.
He glances toward his fellow inmates and Axel nods. Big Tiny shrugs. "We'll join the clean-up crew. If someone can bring us a sheet, we'll start in here."
Tomas stopped breathing as he called out to her, and one of the men stepped behind the counter and returned with a bloody knife. There's something complicated going on here. He needs more information before he risks being on the road to find his family.
She gives the order and collects her teams and leaves. By the time the pair who went to fetch the sheet return, so has the team that took Andrew outside. They oversee them rolling Tomas into the improvised carrier and the big guy he warned about Tomas tells them to take the body to the semis for loading.
For the first time since May, he steps outside the prison doors.
~*~ CP ~*~
Carol huffs a sigh as she studies the three men in front of her. They look better now, freshly showered and in civilian clothes. She's grateful for preparing for Jazz's growth spurt or they wouldn't have had clothes for the tallest man. He keeps petting at his clothes as if amazed they fit.
"Normally, you would be assigned a little apartment here in the Village, but some of our residents just survived a horrible attack on their camp and are wary of new people." Hell, they're wary of Carol's people. "And I don't think you'd find a full-sized bed very comfortable, Mr. Prescott."
He smiles, a rather sweet expression. "I'll sleep wherever you tell me, Mrs. Dixon."
She's sure he probably would. The men are openly grateful to be free of that prison cafeteria. "I've had a few RVs moved down between the main house and the cabins out back. We'll sort something better out as we go along, but that'll give you two taller fellows a queen bed to sleep in."
"Ma'am, we've been sleeping on the floor the last near seven months. Any bed is an improvement," Axel says.
She smiles and motions for them to follow. Augustus trots over to walk beside her. They already have backpacks with a welcome notebook and toiletries, and her people made sure the three RVs are warm and furnished with necessities.
"You can use the bathrooms in the RVs and the electric should hold up to running the heat and minor use. I'm going to ask that you please stay with the RVs at night until things are a little more settled. Someone will bring you back in the morning."
They don't object, so she continues. "If there is something urgent at night, knock at the cabin with the blue door. That's Scout and Shane."
"They're in charge of security, right?" Axel asks. He seems to be working as spokesperson for the trio.
"Exactly."
She points up at the deck as they go around the main house. "Second door from the end is another place you can go, but if you wake Merle, it better be good."
"He's... council, like you?"
"Yes. This part of the property was Dixon land. The farm was Eldridge. Most of the council are Dixons. Eldridge family didn't want the headache. Shane, Scout, Merle, myself. Then Hershel and Tyreese, who you'll meet probably at supper. I'll introduce you around."
"It's not that we don't appreciate the hospitality, but even with the night restriction, y'all are being awfully nice to a bunch of convicts."
Carol smiles at Axel and makes sure the other two see it as well. "It's a world for second chances for those who take them. You aren't the only ex-cons here. Merle served in the same place you did, a long time ago. A few of the others have a past felony or two."
"That explains what the staff sergeant said then. She visited her dad there?"
"Yes, all of the children did. Before my time, but it gave them all a unique sort of sympathy. Don't disappoint her faith in your ability to do good."
They've reached the RVs, parked in a semi-circle beyond the two cabins. Jamie's begun construction on his, so Carol expects some sort of announcement any day now. Several other foundations have been poured, although other than Daryl, none have applied for the cabin kits except Michonne, leaving those for families.
"Why are the cabins separate?" Oscar asks.
"Scout's was down here before, her little haven when she was on leave. Daryl wanted to build near her, and the decided to mark out a little village for the family. There's another cluster of cabins up closer, beyond the equipment barn."
"It's a nice view, with the animals and all."
She looks out toward the pastures and smiles. "Hopefully, you'll feel that way still if you ever have to chase escaped lambs. Which reminds me. Work details. You're getting a few days to settle in, but any idea what you three want to do?"
Axel shrugs. "Been a mechanic, but was training as a cook at the unit."
"Worked warehouse work mostly, after the service," Oscar adds. "Was in the welding program though. And Tiny was training dogs and in the vet assistance program."
She tackles the easiest one first. The huge man's eyes haven't left the animals in the distance, and his fascination with Augustus is endearing. Scout did give her their details, and the big man has a good heart and a lot of bad luck. "Would you like to continue to work with animals, Mr. Prescott?"
He nods and smiles. "I would. You got a farm here. Lots more than dogs and chickens."
"I'll introduce you to Hershel and my son Jazz. Hershel is our veterinarian, and Jazz runs the sheep farm. You can train as far as you want to go."
"I'd like that a lot. And nobody calls me Mr. Prescott. Just Big Tiny. Or my mamas call me Titus."
She nods and turns to Axel. "Which do you prefer? Mechanic or cook or learn something new?"
"Could I do both? I like to cook, but I like to tinker too."
"Easily done. I'll give you a couple meal shifts a week as a relief cook and you can report to our head mechanic in between. I'll introduce you to Jim tonight as well."
"Y'all have a lot of building projects here, ma'am. I'm able and willing to learn." Oscar is the only one she hasn't seen smile.
"You've already met your boss then. That's Merle's domain."
"Saw the Blackbird vehicles. My brother worked for some of his paint subcontractors if he's the owner." He sighs and meets her eyes. "It's a lot to ask, but have your people been up to Ellijay yet?"
"We haven't, but it can be moved up the pipeline. You willing to join a run team?"
"To know one way or another about my kids and brother and niece? Hell yes."
"What about you gentlemen? I know Titus' file has his family in Savannah and Axel's in Macon. Savannah is a little out of our range at present but we would supply you and your friends for a trip. Macon... I wouldn't recommend it unless the walkers have drifted off more."
"I've got no particular attachment to my brother, Mrs. Dixon," Axel says. "But I'll ride with any team looking for their families. They looked after the misfit white guy when they didn't have to."
Big Tiny looks torn. "My mamas... I'm not sure they could make it with all this. Last call I had, Mama was sick with the flu and Moms said it was just a precaution that she was at the hospital because of her age and diabetes. I might not be a smart man, but I can figure out the odds."
Carol understands, but her heart aches for him. She guesses he's had a while to come to terms with it.
"How about you three each claim an RV and put your bags inside? Supper will start serving in about ten minutes."
They do so and follow her readily back, and she doesn't suppress the smile when Big Tiny manages to make a new friend out of Augustus along the way.
~*~ Gareth ~*~
Gareth huddles into his heavy coat and leans on the porch railing. His mother, Alex, Cynthia, and Myra are braving seats on the patio furniture. Their people are spread out between the four bunkhouses now, but with the orphans sharing with Gareth's family so far, a private meeting this late means lurking outside.
"It's a viable place," Mary's saying. She and himself are the only two on today's prison trip. "Two of the housing units will need heavy cleaning because inmates were left inside. But the other two are livable even if we all took our own cell. The kitchen's wonderful for a large group."
"And it should stay secure. It's got the upgraded security fence and guard towers. Merle thinks his tech guys can hack the security systems too," he adds.
"The electric works? The water?" He can understand Cynthia's concerns there.
"All of it. More than we'll be able to use, since it's meant to support five hundred or so. The gardens will need to be tilled and replanted come spring, and fencing put in for farm animals, but there's even two poultry houses there from where they had egg production. Merle suggested rabbits in those over time and let chickens run loose."
"And they're going to get us started?" Alex asks.
"Said if we stay the winter and chip in, that's our payment," Mary replies. "It's closer than it was before. We know they'll help us."
"They're being careful with the kids." Myra glances toward the closed door. "Letting them settle in and get to know the various couples. Carol says they'll get it sorted by Christmas."
Gareth mulls that over. The boys he thinks will stay together, at his mother's request. They're cousins, after all, so letting them keep what family they have is important. The girls he isn't sure on yet. He suspects if she wasn't so busy, Carol would adopt all three herself. But he's glad the children's preferences seem to be the deciding point.
"Everyone in agreement we're staying until March at least?" he asks.
"After today? Seeing how serious they are that not everyone can be saved, yeah. Not sure I like those prisoners here, but they think them safe enough Carol was alone with them." Mary's emphatic on the positive, but she's loyal in a way to Scout saving her.
Alex is the only one who doesn't look completely convinced, so Gareth waves the women to go inside in the warmth.
"What's eating at you, little brother?" he asks, taking a seat. Everyone is healing physically, even the two women medflighted, but he suspects losing his wife is a blow Alex isn't coming back from anytime soon.
"I know they came, and came in force. But we're just a drain on resources now."
"Maybe for a while, but I've spent a lot of time working with Merle. He's seeing our new community as an investment. More land that can be used for farming and raising animals. I think he would prefer we stay, but he's understanding of why we don't want to."
"There's doctors here for Cynthia."
"And they're promising one of them will come stay when she's close to time, and Mom asked to do some nursing training that she'll start after Christmas."
Alex is quiet and he begins to worry it's the responsibility of leadership that might also be an issue. Making the offer causes something to ache within him, but this is his brother. "You could stay here, Alex."
He's hit the nail on the head, because his brother flinches. "And wouldn't that make me a coward?"
"Not to me." If not leading, not facing people who remind him of his late wife, if that's what it takes, he can't blame Alex. "Not to Mom. You've got a while to decide. Take your time."
He sighs and nods. "Did they really execute a prisoner like Mom said?"
"Yeah. His file had a history of violence toward women. Glad she isn't setting someone like that free to maybe find others."
Alex makes a noise of agreement and stands. "Let's get inside before we freeze."
The hug is unexpected and brief, leaving Gareth to think over the conversation a minute. He doesn't want to live in a different community from Alex, but if that's what comes to pass, at least he'll be safe here.
~*~ Oscar ~*~
Oscar's not a bit surprised when both his friends end up in his RV instead of sleeping. The thing is top of the line, so even Tiny doesn't look that out of place on the couch. When the council woman, Carol, said RVs, he expected a lot worse.
"Can't decide of it's too much noise being with all the people again or too quiet to sleep without Tiny snoring," Axel drawls. "You think the welcome wagon is legit?"
"Oddly enough, I do. They made it pretty obvious they aren't shy about removing anyone they think is a threat, and one of the guys on the Marine's team has prison tats. She's trusting him to guard her back."
"Her husband trusts him, better said," Tiny adds. Oscar thinks people shortchange the big man's powers of observation sometimes. "Man's a cop if I ever saw one."
"At least now we know how they have clothes for you," Axel jokes. "That kid's nearly as big as you, and probably still growing."
Tiny shrugs, but Oscar knows he's pleased not to be wearing over or undersized jumpsuits.
"How was the trip down to help with the sheep?" he asks. It was hard to let Tiny walk off after months of having each other's backs even before the dead rose. But honestly, three teenagers and a pair of dogs weren't likely to be a danger to the man.
"There are a lot of sheep. I didn't know that people milked sheep, but I'm going down to help in the morning. He says we just missed helping put the last ones in the freezer."
"That might explain the authentic shepherd's pie we had for supper," Axel comments.
"There's another property of farm animals too. I'm going to help with the laundry shift in the morning and get a bigger tour."
Tiny looks so content that Oscar's glad the situation didn't escalate today. Axel got drawn into the mechanics, who acted like Christmas came early to have a new tinkerer to work with. Two of them are women, which he hopes doesn't pose a problem with Axel's unique personality.
He isn't a bad guy, not like Andrew who had at least a half dozen citations for gunning, but he can put his foot in his mouth faster than any man Oscar's ever known. It was a source of amusement to female guards at least.
And he's got a morning appointment with the firing range instead of the building crew. They're actually serious about the trip north to find answers about his family.
For tonight, he's going to enjoy being free. It'll be nice not to have to sleep in shifts for protection.
This just might be the real deal for them.
