Gabriel looked up and saw his mother standing before him.
"MOM!" Gabriel hugged her. But she wasn't his mom. He looked up and saw the same creepy raider. Gabriel froze as he saw his sickening smirk, approaching the two of them, his weapon dripping with blood. He let his mother go and ran into the darkness, leaving her to her fate.
He then slowly came back into reality.
Gabriel awoke on a cot in the boat. Morgan stood over him, looking concerned and holding the bandages Garry had handed to her earlier.
"Kid...please, don't run or make any noise, okay? I'm here..."
"Get away from me..." Gabriel commanded her. He started to tear up.
Rook stood in a back corner, leaning against the wall. He was watching the kid with a certain wariness, almost as if a bodyguard for Morgan. Anyone who shot at him certainly deserved it.
"Please, let me take care of you." Morgan whispered. She knelt down and shuffled a little closer. "You're seriously hurt, dehydrated and disorientated. Stay calm, like a man..."
"I'm a child, you can't say to do this or that like a man. And no, anyone who breaks my trust will not take care of me." Gabriel said. He got up and pushed Morgan aside.
I'll get my revenge, breaking my trust is not a good thing to do.
Whiskers came into the room and sat next to Rook, and rubbing his head on Rook's leg.
Rook glanced down at the molerat, but otherwise did not spare it any other attention.
"I..." Morgan sighed. "It was Garry who hit you, not me...You saved my life after all. Why would I ruin that trust?"
"You told them to hold me against my own will, you and the other are lunatics!
Since I don't have any of my weapons and I ran out of everything, I have to stay here! You all lied to me, hurt my feelings, threatened me, and all other horrible things and yet I still have to be here! Rook is a stupid android, threatened me, and ordered me! You told him to hold me against my own will!
Garry is a jerk and hurt me!
Every one of you is guilty and yet I stay here. So, tell me this, do you think you did nothing wrong?" Gabriel asked her.
"Of course, I did something wrong." Morgan agreed. "I didn't want to order Rook to restrain you, but I thought it was best for your own safety."
Rook had a sudden impulse to speak in Morgan's defence, but decided against it, supposing she'd want to handle it herself.
"Against my own will! You thought it was best and now how will I trust you after this? I don't even have a choice if I want to go or not, my weapons are gone, and I have nothing else. I hate all of you." Gabriel said before sitting back on the bed.
"Of course, you have a choice." Morgan soothed, shuffling closer. "We'll give you back your knife and you can take my pistol when you get better, if you wish to leave..."
"No, I don't. Those weapons are weak, and anyway, you guys would probably look for me. And I have a higher risk being out there, alone. So, I'll stay, but, if you do something like this again, you will regret it. I'm not forgiving you either, and consider what I said, a threat." Gabriel said. He then put his head down to the floor.
"Kid..." Morgan whispered, sitting back again.
"I... I understand..." She sighed heavily and looked back to Rook.
"Let's leave him alone for now. The last thing he needs is us antagonising him."
Rook nodded, heading out of the room.
Rook lead Morgan into a different room, very far from Gabe's, and sat down on the cot.
"Today was eventful."
"Yah I'm pooped." Morgan said, nodding on a yawn. "Glad we have a couple hours to rest..."
"As am I. I have begun to see why you hate people. They can be irritating."
"Extremely so." Morgan chuckled. "Especially the little ones, but...well, not all humans are bad. You aren't, for one."
Rook seemed happy by that remark, her referring to him as a human.
"I find you company pleasurable as well, Morgan." Rook said, laying back on the cot.
Morgan beamed her most cheesy smile and lay beside the Android. "I consider you to be more human than actual humans." She admitted, curling up and resting her head on his chest.
"Is that weird?"
"I do not mind it. I actually find it very flattering."
"Hah. I flatter you? Really?" Morgan laughed and closed her eyes, looking very comfortable. "I... I am glad I do..."
"You are going to sleep now?" Asked Rook, seeing as Morgan had closed her eyes.
"Nah, I'm just enjoying this moment of peace for as long as I can." Morgan giggled, tracing a circle on Rooks stomach with her finger.
Rook nodded in silent agreement and folded his arms around her shoulders.
The contact on his bare flesh was strange. It rarely ever happened that something that wasn't supposed to hurt touched it. It was the opposite of pain, whatever that might be. Instead of receiving pain data, like he normally would on a contact, he simply received evidence the contact was being made, which he could clearly tell with his eyes. That raised the question- why was the contact on his stomach more than just absent pressure?
Rook closed his eyes and his usually stoic expression seemed to be upturned, like he was thoroughly enjoying himself.
"You are smiling." Morgan noted, glancing up to look at his face. "I wonder if you're ticklish sometimes."
Rook raised a brow.
"Are you going to investigate?"
"It depends." She giggled. "Are you going to tickle me back or not?"
"Counter attacks are an unfortunate part of my many operations." Rook informed her.
"Ah well it'd be best, and more strategically sound if I... abstained from tickling you, Rook." Morgan admitted, her face a little red.
"You would undoubtedly meet defeat." Rook agreed, offering a rare smile to her.
She couldn't help but laugh again and sat up a little to get a better look at Rooks smile. "You...look good when you smile."
"You always look good." Said Rook, sounding apprehensive, like he was speaking of things he knew nothing about. "You are the only person who makes me feel... warm. And not friend warm. Better warm."
"The Special Friend kind of warm, I know what you mean." Morgan confirmed. "You...make me feel like that too."
Rook met her eyes, and stared warmly at her.
"I love you Morgan." He said quietly, without a break. "You are my primary asset."
"Rook..." Morgan whispered, just as, if not even more, quietly than him. Her face was rather red by this point. "You're so sweet and kind. F-far better than any human..."
Rook gingerly moved forwards, shifting his weight onto his hip, and reached out to take her face in his hands, before leaning forward to kiss her.
Morgan smiled, enjoying it and, for a change, not relenting.
After a long while, Rook eventually pulled away. He was used to Morgan ending it and putting the walls back up again afterwards, so this was an unexpected by pleasant surprise. It was still only pressure to him, but it did please him greatly to know that she did not mind the gesture. He did, however, not know what he was supposed to do now.
"Do you want to go to sleep now?" He asked, resting his forehead against hers.
Morgan bit her lip and slowly shook her head. "I'm quite...awake now." She admitted.
"Do you want to...?" Rook asked in his customary proposition. He sensed it was a delicate, awkward topic, and was trying to bridge it carefully.
"I um...yeah..." Morgan whispered, looking slightly nervous. "Is th-that okay?"
"It is fine." Rook reassured Morgan, and smiled at her, trying to ease her anxiety. "I want this as much as you do. It is just different for me."
"Yeah...g-good." Morgan exhaled. "D-didn't want to pressure you or anything."
"It is fine." He repeated, taking her hand and pulling her down to him. "Just follow my lead..."
Morgan panted lightly in her sleep. She was curled on top of Rooks chest, breathing heavily, a large smile on her face.
No doubt she will have things to say in the morning.
Rook pulled the covers over them and held Morgan close, deciding it was a good time to initiate a cooldown cycle. He rested his face in Morgan's mop of curly hair and shutdown for the night.
A few short hours later, in the early morning, just as the sun was beginning to rise, Morgan finally stirred, shivering slightly under the covers. She was still latched on to Rook as if he was the only thing she cared about, which he was, and she looked around blearily, content to remain quiet until he came out of his cooldown cycle.
It was about an hour later when Rook came back to life, his eyes slowly opening, and he glanced around the room, trying to get a feel for his surroundings in the light of morning.
The old ferry man was staring over to the New Jersey shoreline.
He was slightly hesitant to leave. Those Governors Island people... They scared him. Because most of them knew what they did was wrong, but didn't care. Those kinds of people you best avoid at all costs.
Heather woke up in her own cot on the upper level and instantly rolled out of bed, rolling her shoulders as she got up and looked around, searching for Garry...
Still not here... She thought, finding herself to be worried about him, he didn't come home last night and it was very rare that he left her on her own, if he had a choice in the matter.
Something was wrong...
She slowly rose up.
Gabe had been wandering the hallways for some time, being about as subtle as usual. Most people had been ignoring him, doing their best to avoid contact, if it wasn't absolutely necessary.
"Gabe?" Morgan called out. "You ok?"
Gabriel turned around. "Oh yes, hey I have a question..." Gabriel said.
"Fire away kid." Morgan smiled, seeming happier than usual, and even more glad Gabriel wasn't screaming at her.
He walked up towards her. "So, when I was walking around, i heard you say yesterday night was amazing, what do you mean by that?" he asked. "Out of curiosity." Gabriel said again.
"It was just...a... good end to a rather shitty day, Gabe." Morgan said evasively.
"You're suspicious, you did something didn't you?" he asked her. He looked at her and made the, tell me, tell me look.
More like did someone...Morgan thought.
"I had a very comfortable sleep, and a nice night with Rook, that's all."
He then started to grin. "You, you...did you do it with the android?" he asked her. He put his hand on his hips.
"I cannot hide anything from you, can I?" Morgan sighed in exasperation, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
He laughed, and then started to cry.
"That is the funniest thing I have ever heard, someone doing a android, wow, you guys are really special." he teased. Gabriel then sighed and looked down.
Morgan hung her head as well.
I knew some people wouldn't accept it, or try to make fun...
"It... was just a one off?" She offered half-heartedly.
"It's not that. I'm sorry for making fun too but, I'm scared, what happens if we all die when we go to Governors.
I almost died yesterday, what will keep us from dying when we go to Governor's?" Gabriel asked her.
"Rook will protect us." Morgan assured Gabriel. "And I will keep an eye on you, give you a... decent weapon if we can find one. We will look after each other, okay? We're like a family now."
Gabriel started to tear up and smile. "Family..." Gabriel whispered.
"A proper one, alright?" Morgan smiled. "I am truly sorry for yesterday, you know that, right?"
"Yes, I know that, but I don't forgive Rook or Garry." Gabriel said. He then hugged Morgan tightly.
"Woah steady there, kid." Morgan chuckled, nervously glancing around before hugging Gabriel back. "C'mon, some old boat dude is waiting on us."
Gabriel smiled and walked with Morgan.
After a while, Rook decided Moran wasn't coming back. He rose from the bed, dressed in the remains of his Vault suit, and then walked about the deck of the ship, coming to find Garry at the bow.
"Is everything alright?" He asked the ex-slaver.
Garry's tired eyes were fixed on the horizon, seemingly unblinking as he rested his arm on a shotgun, that was rested on his knee.
"Yeah, everythin's fine..." The Wastelander uttered, with a heavy sigh, he sounded drained.
"Your behaviour indicates everything is not fine."
Garry slid down into his chair, sighing again as he did so before looking back up to the Android, finally showing an interest when he wanted to be alone.
"Just... Thinkin' about yesterday..." He uttered, turning his eyes back to the moving horizon.
"Morgan still pissed at me?"
"You have several years of physiological development on the child. Such conditions make hitting him unpleasant for older humans to see."
"Huh... I feel like it's more than several years." Garry uttered, seeming worryingly lucid, like he had just injected himself with drugs.
"Don't really care to be honest...
I don't think I did wrong; you gave people lip you got a smack, that's how the world is for everyone..."
"Things are... A little claustrophic, can't say shit anymore..." He sighed, slowly placing his gun on the table and sitting back in his chair.
"I understand." Agreed Rook, also having experienced some unwelcome interruptions. "Are you thinking about yesterday? Or before then?" Rook said, as ran through his memory logs. Garry's actions appeared to have been spurred on by past events, probably those of his own childhood. Not that Rook would know about childhood trauma. Rook's childhood had been a testing phase, to make sure there weren't any kinks in programming so that he wouldn't turn into a homicidal maniac.
Garry sighed, heavily, looking back up to Rook with softened eyes.
"Both, to be honest... I keep thinkin' about Annie. What she'd think about yesterday..."
"...Annie?"
"She... And me, we were like... You and Morgan..." He explained, it was obvious that it wasn't easy to talk about.
Rook nodded slowly. "I understand. I assume something happened to her?"
Garry paused on it, keeping his fingers lightly drumming on the table until they stopped, he paused and looked over to the Android, like something had just occured to him.
"Can I ask... If you had a choice between Morgan killin' you and goin' back to the commonwealth as a slave. Which one would you pick?"
Rook froze at the question. Literally: his whole body stiffened. There was a long silence as he made a series of complicated situational analysis and weighed the consequences of each choice.
"I would prefer not to be in that situation. But I would rather self-terminate than do either." He finally answered after a few seconds of calculations. And a second was a long time for an A.I.
"Self-terminate wasn't an option for me... And I made a call." The Former Slaver replied, weakly.
Rook looked at Garry without a degree of pity of sympathy. Then again, it was unlikely he could ever show either.
"I assume you chose the latter."
"I... Sent her on her way but then detonated her collar..." Garry replied, falling silent as he swallowed.
"Blew her head clean off..."
Rook canted his head.
"So that she did not have to be a slave." Rook said, as he watched Garry quiet, suddenly feeling rather... bad. Combat androids had a much less complex empathy center than more humanoid androids. But the comparison of slaves with androids and Morgan with Garry registered with him.
Rook could not self-terminate.
Would he have Morgan kill him, or return a slave? It did not matter- Rook would have found some other way out of it. He would never be in that position. The question was simply a dilemma regarding Garry's past. It had no bearing on him.
"Yeah... I still don't know if it's right or not, I never got to ask her before I did it." Garry explained, sighing heavily as he did so before turning to the Android.
"I just did."
"Do you have misgivings about your decision?"
Garry glanced up, unsure as to what 'misgivings' meant but he assumed it meant 'doubt' or something to that effect.
"Yeah... Every day... I don't know if what I did was right, wrong... stupid... If there was another way or what." He explained, sighing heavily as he put the gun pieces down and fell back into his chair.
"Guess I'll never know..."
Rook could have explained to Garry a miltitude of alternatives, but decided that none of them would be welcome.
Rook turned his attention from Garry to the passing waves, outside of the boat.
"Have you shared any of these doubts with Heather?" He asked after a long moment of silence.
"She knows... But I can't really imagine having this conversation with her, she usually ends up kissin' me or somethin' to shut me up." Garry shrugged, taking hold of a gun part and gently tapping it against the table.
"I don't usually complain..." The Wastelander replied before glancing up to Rook.
"You and Morgan have a good thing goin'..."
"What do you mean?" Good thing goin'?
"Your... 'Relations' with her, seems like you're both enjoyin' it." Garry pointed out, going back to messing around with his gun.
"Ah. Yes, that is correct." Rook agreed.
"Just gotta get rid of me, Heather and the kid and you two can sail off on this piece of shit, into the sunset." Garry smirked, though it was quite forced.
"I think getting rid of the child will be difficult. Morgan appears to have become attached to it."
"Get her a puppy instead... They're better at keepin' their fluids to themselves at least." Garry replied, openly chuckling.
"I do not think she likes animals. I assumed the child would eventually depart, but Morgan seems intent on keeping it with us. I desire this change, as I do not wish to spend my future with the child."
"I'd dump him on someone else as soon as you can... That kid's a liability, to himself and to you." The Former Slaver suggested as he began to reassemble his gun.
"To me?"
"He's... He don't learn from anythin' and he is quick to attack, that boy just attracts trouble and if you don't get him in line, he'll bring the both of you down." Garry explained, snapping something back in place.
"I attempted to in still orders to him but he panicked and ran away."
"Told you and he won't listen, so he's only going to get worse..." The Wastelander grumbled, snapping his gun back into place.
"Don't get me wrong, I get it, he's a kid and that... but that kid is only gonna get you one thing..." He paused, wondering if he should say it.
"Dead..."
Pop was sort of waiting for someone to spur him to go. He spat some yellow saliva down into the dark green muck that was the Hudson river.
Morgan and Gabe wandered around 'til they found the Captain.
"We...we're ready to go..."
"Well" His lazy eye drifted off as he looked at Morgan.
"Oi gess w'are"
And with that he walked off to his bridge.
"Ja best hold'n!" He yelled from the open window overlooking the deck.
"She can sort ef 'obble n' shtutter 'hen departin' "
"Sweet. We're going off to war..." Morgan sighed, looking down at Gabe before staring at the sunrise.
The old ferry's engines roared back into action. The whole boat started to shake, it felt like standing on top of a violent tumble dryer.
"Ah! Me bones!" Pop said, grinding his teeth.
Slowly but surely the old girl drifted away from the docks and onto the open waters of the Hudson. There was no turning back now.
Unless you like to swim through radioactive sludge.
"Oh lord..." Morgan sighed, her stomach was in knots and her heart was pounding already. She gave Gabriel a small, weak smile.
It'll be okay...
" 'ell... Oi ges tis't be te very first toime most of ja'r on a seaship" Pop grinned. His yellow teeth reflecting in the morning sun.
"Now we'r gonna find out wo's easily seasick!" He laughed. Seeing that Morgan wasn't doing so well, already.
"Please do ja businesses overboard, tankja"
Morgan went pale and rushed out the Captains area, leaning over the railing pre-emptively.
Fuck sailing...
Heather emerged for the first time, since they'd got to the boat and stepped up behind Gabe.
"First time on a boat?" She asked.
"Your friend over there is a jerk, almost broke my nose, slapped me really hard, shouting at me, and also, yes." Gabriel said and sighed. His face was still red, and he got a bruise on his eye a bit.
Heather was hoping that he'd have calmed a little, still, it couldn't be helped...
"It's... Just his way, it's just how things were for him, when he was your age."
"Oh, so almost breaking my nose, and slapping me really hard, making a little bruise on my eye, is just his way? He's ignorant and mean." Gabriel said, this time angrier in tone and stature as he usually was when people didn't just blindly agree with him.
Heather sighed, realising how stupid that answer was, prompting her to look around for inspiration...
She eventually found it, bent over a railing, vomiting its guts up into the sea.
"Your friends with Morgan, aren't you?"
"I wouldn't call her a friend, she's like a mother to me..." Gabriel trailed off, and then got really silent.
"Well... Garry had someone close to him once, like Morgan but... closer. Like Morgan and Rook?" Heather explained, looking back over her shoulder before turning back to Gabriel.
"Except he lost her, she died... horribly and the worst part about it was that he had to kill her himself. Just... Try to imagine you having to kill Morgan, because of something that you did."
He looked down and was silent. "I got that feeling, my mother died by raiders, the man who killed her, they took the body with them, he smiled at me creepily, just give me a minute." Gabriel said before starting to cry.
"We all have pain Gabriel, sometimes it's good to remember that..." She reminded him, gently placing her hand on his shoulder.
"I'm sorry about your Mom..."
"Did you say it's good to remember that? You don't know what it is like, seeing your own mom die in front of your eyes, and I want to forget it, but I can't it's not good, it's bad!" Gabriel shouted before walking off.
Heather turned around, confused as to what Gabriel was talking about as she meant Garry, though the boy most likely only had confrontation on his mind right now and was willing to take anything as a challenge.
She sighed, heavily and returned to looking out to sea, she was much better with the kids in the pens...
Or just ones without narcissistic personality disorders really.
The old seadog couldn't care less about the drama happening on his ship. As long as the kid didn't come sobbing on his bridge or start playing with any of the buttons he was content to let it play out among his passengers.
"If ja'll look in te distens ja can see te base of ol' Lady Liberty..." He threw into the group while pointing forward. at a foggy appearance in the mist. It looked like the lower part of a toga with some feet sticking out, the copper was brown and in bad condition, it had turned from a soft gold to a greenish hue through oxidation to now, a harsh scorched brown because of the atomic heat.
"Chinese nuked te shit out 'f it" The captain added, dryly.
The old captain reared his head from out of the small bridge's side window again.
"Hold on! Mines!"
And it were true. If you looked closely at the water surface, you could see a slight curvature right under the water, with pins sticking out of them.
The ferry narrowly drifted past one of the lurking dangers.
Meanwhile the old capt'n was busy turning the ship's wheel in the pattern that was necessary to avoid these deathtraps. Now the ship's side stood parallel with Governors island in the distance. It was a matter of zigzagging in the right direction really. But one simple slip and they'd be blown sky-high.
"We can do away with him when we hit the mainland." Rook offered. "Tell him to go on his way. He can go back to what he was doing before."
"Trust me, you'll be doing yourselves a favour..." The Wastelander sighed, slowly pulling himself up.
"Speakin' of loud and dangerous shit, sounds like the Captain's in trouble..."
Rook nodded.
"I'll wake Morgan." He said, before hurrying back to the cabin.
"Morgan." He said, sticking his head inside. "We've arrived."
"I can tell..." Morgan whispered. She was sat on the bed/cot/thing, her hands clasped and her skin incredibly pale. "I just...feel it in the atmosphere..."
Rook was little taken aback by her appearance.
"Are you alright?"
Morgan gently shook her head.
"I... I'm t-terrified."
The island was dark and shrouded in mist. Only the remnants of Castle Williams of the 18th century fort were clearly visible.
A storm cloud thundered, yet no lighting flash followed.
Meanwhile, the boat carefully tip-toed its way through the hazards, drifting just under the surface, like sharks awaiting their prey.
"Another life or death situation..." Gabriel whispered.
Pop looked concentrated and cautious. He had never sailed here before. And he didn't like these clouds one bit.
After grumbling something in his incomprehensible accent, he stuck his head out once again and yelled:
"Nerly tere!"
Whilst the ship inched closer slowly but steadily to the infamous island.
"W-what iff they have E-eMP-ps..." Morgan stammered, resting her head on Rooks shoulder. "This place...It's...gonna have p-people that know how to use them..."
Rook didn't settle for that and pulled Morgan into an embrace, holding her to his chest.
"Morgan, look at me." He said looking down at her face. "I will defend you. Besides, we are not here to fight. We are simply gathering information."
"Th-they'll find us." Morgan insisted, going somewhat paler. "And we...we will never leave."
"Morgan, negative thoughts will not help." Rook warned. "We are entering a dangerous situation. 'Pre-battle jitters' are a normal thing, but you need to get a handle on yourself. This is a borderline panic attack." He paused, before continuing, "Take deep breaths, look at me, and think about something else, alright?"
Morgan nodded, slowly turning her head to gaze deeply into Rooks eyes. Her breathing was quick at first, but soon slowed down as she concentrated and focused on spending the night with her Android.
And many more to come...
"We...are getting information. W-we will be fi-fiiine"
Rook smiled at her, glad he'd made leeway.
"Yes. We will be fine." He reassured her.
"We will be fine." morgan repeated, exhaling heavily and returning Rooks embrace. She still looked nervous, and was still pale, but at least she was breathing okay.
"Time to go, huh?"
"Yes." Rook replied, letting her go.
Garry was stood against the door, waiting for them to come out so that they could get going.
"R-right then..." She sighed, standing up and talking with Rook to the deck. As soon as she stepped outside, Morgan shuddered and wrapped her arms around herself. "It's f-freezing..."
"Hey, Morgan, can I have a weapon from you?" Gabriel asked her when she came out.
"Give Gabriel your pistol Rook. He needs something."
"It is a 12.7mm. The recoil from it will knock someone his size to the ground."
"If I can have your 12.7, I can give him my .32..." Heather offered, figuring that that had less of a kickback.
Rook glanced over at Heather, then to her arms, judging the mass of her biceps and arms, before relenting.
"Very well." He passed her the 12.7, and let Gabe have the .32. He unclipped his gun belt, that was with him at all times, and removed the pouch in which he stored his shotgun shells, before passing Heather the belt. It had built in straps that held Rook's collection of spare magazines. In fact, he was running low, he has to acquire more bullets.
"Take all this."
Heather took the belt and put it on, fastening it around her waist and shoulder, making sure that it was tight. Garry would offer her his 1911 but it only had one round left in it, so it wasn't really of any use to anyone.
"Well, we all have a weapon now at least." Morgan said quietly, her eyes fixated on the Island.
Not like this is going to last long. They're bound to know we're coming.
"Alrigh'... What's the plan?" Garry asked, pulling his pistol's slider back and snapping it in place before tucking it into its holster.
"I can barely remember what we're here for..." Morgan said quietly before flaking under Garrys look.
"We're h-here to gather information. A-ask Rook."
"The Chinese got the schematics of how to build their ultimate psychotronic control device from Governor's Island. That means that the people here on this island also knows how to dismantle the object or at least have information we can find useful. Regardless, if we want any chance at defeating Chinese, what we need is here. That means, when you have the opportunity, search for key words such as 'psychotronics,' 'People's Republic of China Town,' 'Ania Ray," or 'Empire State Building.' Understood?"
Garry shrugged, he heard 'Chinese,' 'Psychodelic' and 'Empire State.' The rest was just drivel...
"Alrigh' sounds good." He replied, sounding quite put out.
Morgan hung her head and nodded in agreement. "Y-yes sir." She sighed, saluting half-heartedly.
Gabriel mumbled something before nodding quietly. He was determined.
"Alright" Rook said, he then went off to find himself some actual clothes. Perhaps the sailor guy had some lying around...
The sailor in question cut the power of the engine. Letting the boat drift for the remainder of the journey at a snail's pace but a lot less loud and conspicuous. Which would be the best way to approach lest they wanted to get made.
"Everyone quiet naw..." He instructed all who could hear.
Rook soon returned, dressed in an entirely new outfit. A simple, ragged thing, that exposed both his forearms and everything below the knees, but had a coat that protected him from the wind- sailor's clothes.
Morgan glanced at Rook, her eyes growing wide in awe.
"Y-you look good." She whispered, despite the situation.
"Thank you." Rook offered as a customary reply, coming to stand beside her. "Perhaps you should decide my outfits from now on, considering you know what each should entail."
The island was now very close. But there was no dock on this part of the island, and Pop would be damned if he would try to get to those for these rude strangers.
"Rigt, get off 'ere"
"Are you expecting us to swim?" Morgan asked, turning to give the old captain a glare.
"Yeah, you can get off if you like..." Garry replied to the old ferry driver.
"Water's schallow 'ere. Ja can walk, dont stay in too long though, cuz then it'll eat ja" The old man said. Not wishing to dilly dally in these hostile waters.
"Affirmative." Rook replied. He climbed to the bow of the boat and dropped into the thigh deep water, before advancing on the shore.
"Rooooook!" Morgan called, waving him over. "Can you carry us at all?"
Rook halted, turned, walked back to the boat, and held his arms out.
"Jump."
Garry rolled his eyes before jumping in, wincing as his legs came into contact with the water as Heather did the same.
"C'mon, let's move before I end up with a third nut!" The Former Slaver insisted.
No way am I walking in that shite.
Morgan nodded, jogging over and hopping up into Rooks arms. "L-let's go!"
Rook held Morgan up, above the water, and trudged toward the land. Once they were on dry ground, he set Morgan down on her feet.
He then surveyed what lay in front of them...
Morgan turned to stare up at the castle, her face going pale again.
The grass on shore of the island was dry and sharp but it made an interesting change from the city tarmac.
Rook glanced over at the castle.
"That's about a hundred metres east of here." Rook guessed. "We need to get moving."
"Y-yeah..." Morgan sighed softly. "L-let's go..."
Once all of them had gotten to shore, it dawned to them that Pop had started the engine again.
"Srry Fellas, But ja'r on ja own now!" He yelled with clear fake sympathy.
The boat drifted back into the bay.
"And how the fuck are we getting back!?" Morgan called out, angry.
Garry considered shooting the asshole in the back of the head with his rifle but reconsidered it as it was only just not worth it.
Rook glanced back as pop drove away, coming to a conclusion.
"The docks are on the south side of the island. We will have to acquire a vessal from there." He said simply.
There was no response, only the faint duffing noise of the engine.
Only one way to go now.