A/N: This chapter also contains Grace Mason, an original character created by the lovely Jemmz :)
Chapter 6: Where We Land
When the 2nd Mass arrived back in Boston, Casey didn't feel as settled as she thought she should since given the fact they were in the state capital. She had expected to feel more confident since they were somewhere "known", but instead she felt nervous. She put her rush of anxiety to lack of sleep. It had rained heavily the whole drive from Fitchburg and Etta did not travel happily.
Not wanting to have the baby too far away from Anne if she suddenly needed medical help, Casey travelled in the repurposed city bus that Jamil had helped convert into a mobile clinic. But since the bus was designed to transport patients, most of whom were suffering from bad burns, Anne asked Jamil to drive much slower than he probably would have liked. So, the bus was among the last of the fleet to arrive in Boston.
Where exactly they were in Boston, Casey wasn't sure. The buildings and homes they passed whilst driving the streets had been bombed flat by beamers or Mechs months before. Casey had no idea where Weaver intended for them to camp in this shell of a city. When they came to a stop under the bridge just by the water, Casey figured it was purely to regroup. But in fact, the bridge was to be their new base camp. Weaver assured the 2nd Mass that with all the trees, the bridge and enough Army camouflage netting, they should be able to keep themselves hidden.
The rain that had travelled with them from Fitchburg had eased off to a monotonous, gentle splattering by the time the 2nd Mass arrived in the very early hours of the morning. To keep Etta from catching a cold, Anne suggested Casey stay put in the medic bus until sunrise. Anne had also tasked Casey with keeping watch over Grace and Matt, as well as Etta, in exchange for being given refuge inside the bus while the bulk of the 2nd Mass slept outside in tents.
Grace was laying before Casey on a gurney that Jamil had managed to chain in place to the floor of the bus. Exhausted from the trip, Matt had fallen asleep on the long seat at the back of the bus, and Etta slept in her basket at Casey's feet. It reminded Casey of how her grandmother used to sit with her dog in a basket at her feet, but they didn't exactly have time to find a car seat, or have any vehicle in which to secure it.
Casey sat on a foldout chair beside Grace's bed, thumbing through the only book she carried with her. Over her time with the 2nd Mass, Casey had somehow wound up with less property than she'd started with. She only had four things of actual sentimental value in the book bag she carried. And technically, it wasn't even her book bag. It was just something she'd found to carry her wallet, phone, photos and yes, even a book. She had no use for her phone, but she didn't want to ditch it. If electricity ever got back to normal, she had photographs and messages from her mother on her cell that she wanted to see again. Her wallet still had money in it, not that it could be used for much, but she liked to have the wallet with her anyway.
The photos were actually ones her mother had been carrying on the day they tried to flee the city, Casey didn't even really look at them that much nowadays. But they were the first thing that her mother had grabbed, so Casey kept them safe. The book was a copy of Anne Frank's diary Casey had swiped from JFK High School the year before. The book had always meant a lot to Casey, so much so that since the invasion, she felt obligated to carry a copy with her.
It was whilst Casey was skimming a June entry of Anne's diary that Grace woke up with a start. It was as though a loud noise had woken her, but the morning was peacefully quiet. Casey slipped the book into the back of Etta's basket being careful not to wake the infant. "You okay?" Casey handed Grace bottle of water and unscrewed the cap. "Here."
Grace took the bottle, swallowed half the contents, gasped and rested back on her gurney before she attempted to speak. "I am chained to a bed," Grace grumbled. "I should be out there with the other scouts."
"Technically, your bed is chained, not you." Casey said. "And it's been raining out there, you don't wanna be out there."
Grace rolled over on her side so she was facing Casey, grimacing as she shifted her aching body, and noticed Casey's bandaged wrist. "What happened?"
So, Casey told her. She told her about Fitchburg as she remembered it. The post office, the Mech that killed Sarah, escaping through the sewers and finding the gym. Grace was proud to hear how helpful Matt had been with Etta, and became yet another person who assured Casey she would "do fine" with a baby.
"What about you?" Casey switched focus to Grace. "Tell me about Grace's Excellent Adventure. We thought we'd lost you in Fitchburg. How'd you get out?"
"I walked," Grace said with a tired smile. "Well, first I tried to run. Well, no, first I was knocked out. Mech blast exploded a car right next to me. When I woke up, it was morning and I was under a bunch of rubble. There was no one around. Well, no one alive. I saw bike tracks on the road, so I followed them and then I just walked the way I would have gone if I was Weaver. I knew my leg was burned but I didn't want to look at it, I just knew I couldn't run on it. So, I just walked until I couldn't walk anymore."
"Where did Ben find you?"
"I found a river, there was a car stuck in the mud, so I was resting in the backseat. Ben found me there." Grace's eyes drifted off and she stared at nothing. "I thought I was dreaming. Didn't realize how tired I was until I tried to get out of that car. Felt like my body was full of cement. Don't think Ben's ever carried me before in his life, but he brought me back without breaking a sweat. Those spikes are good for something."
The extra energy, perfect health and swift movements that came with being a de-harnessed survivor were oddly perfect for the world they lived in now. But Casey didn't share her opinion with Grace. The girl was exhausted and didn't need people thinking her brother as a freak was a useful tool for the camp. "Well, I'm glad you're back." Casey told her instead.
The bus door squeaked opened and Lourdes came aboard. She looked mildly well-rested and smiled when she saw Grace was awake. "Good, you're up. I was coming to wake you so you could eat something." In her hands she held a plastic bowl. "Soup." She announced.
Casey raised her eyebrows, and her stomach growled to life. "There's soup?"
Lourdes nodded. "Yeah, people were up all night getting the food tent together. I can watch the baby if you want to get something."
Casey didn't wait to be told twice, she was starving. It didn't matter that soup was on the menu for breakfast; the 2nd Mass had long since done away with typical eating rules. Food was food, and Casey wanted it.
Outside, the sky was a miserable shade of grey but at least it wasn't raining. Casey followed the smell of spice to the food tent and joined the short line of people queuing up. As she took a bowl from the small stack of plastic ware, she noticed that on the edge of the foldout table was a little container of breath mints that someone must have left behind. Casey picked it up and shook it, it rattled. There were at least half a dozen mints left. Score.
"If I save a baby, can I get some perks, too?"
Casey turned to see Crazy Lee, the only female Berserker, step into line right behind her. "You think mints are a perk?" Casey inquired. "Or are you saying something about my breath?"
Lee shrugged. Her curls, held back with her trademark bandana, bounced from the shake of her head. "Just what happens when you're part of the Mason crowd, right? The extra swag just falls into your lap."
"Here, take 'em," Casey tossed Lee the mints which she caught one-handed. "You just had to ask."
Casey figured that would be the end of their interaction, and took her bowl of soup from the woman behind the table. But when she turned around, Lee was still behind her. "Playing nursemaid doesn't give you access to better food, then, huh?" Lee asked.
"What do you think, the Masons have a stash of high quality stuff that they're keeping from everyone else?" Casey asked.
Lee shrugged, keeping in step with Casey as they walked off. "I figured someone would be paying you off now that you're on full-time diaper duty."
Casey snorted. "Are you kidding? Diapers are the easy part. It's only a mess. I clean it up and she's fine. What's worse is feeding her. Anne told me to feed her every two hours, but it takes me an hour to feed her so do I feed her every two hours from when I start, or every two hours from when I finish? I feel like I'm feeding her all the time, and then she overeats and spits up all over me. And do I wake her up to feed her? Anne said never wake her if she's sleeping, so how the hell am I supposed to feed her every two hours?"
Lee gave her an unamused look. "In Fitchburg, I was cornered by three skitters and only had two bullets left in my gun." She said coolly. "Finished off two by headshots, the third one by tackling it and smashing its brains with a brick."
"Right, so you know how it is." Casey joked, thankful that Lee caught the lightness of her tone and playfully rolled her eyes in reply.
Casey hadn't really been paying attention to where they were headed, and found herself walking with Lee right up to Pope, Boon, Lyle and Tector. The Berserkers had claimed themselves a square of space by a pillar of the bridge. Their bikes fenced in the little area, and they had dragged in a few chairs. Tector was sitting up in a chair with his eyes closed, apparently sleeping, Pope and Boon were drinking coffee and playing cards, and Lyle was eating his breakfast soup while watching the card game.
"Dammit!" Boon growled at himself and tossed away his cards. "You gotta be cheatin', Pope. No way someone can lose as many times as I have."
Pope chuckled to himself, and then noticed Casey and Lee. "Found yourself a girlfriend, Craze?" Pope greeted Lee. "Maybe she can braid that rats nest you call hair."
"You're one to talk," Lee replied with a grin and took a seat by Lyle.
Casey eyed the card game. "What are you playing?"
"Texas Hold 'Em, wanna play?" Pope asked as Boon got to his feet in a huff.
"Oh, no, I don't really play cards," Casey sipped her soup out of the bowl.
"So? I could use the practice," Pope gestured to Boon's vacated seat. "Not like any of my gang are worth playing anyway."
"He's talking about you, Boon," Lyle said.
"You can all suck it," Boon pouted and wandered off towards the food tent.
Casey noticed the small pile of items on the turned over oil drum that they were using as a card table. "I don't have anything to bet with."
"Here," Lee tossed Casey back the container of mints. "All you had to do was ask." She added with a smirk.
With a disinterested shrug, Casey accepted. She took Boon's seat in front of Pope and added her little tin of mints to the pot, which so far consisted of a couple of sugar packets, gum, and a wristwatch. "Okay," she slurped the last of her soup and sat her bowl at her feet. "Deal."
"That's cute," Pope said as he shuffled the cards. "You know the words."
Casey gave him a tight-lipped smile, not wanting to derail his over-confidence. It was necessary for her to win. And win she did, in all of ten minutes. It was at about the nine minute mark that Pope caught on that Casey knew what she was doing, and his arrogant, snarky comments evaporated. Tector awoke from his nap to witness the game with Lee and Lyle. And when Boon came back with his soup, he stood right behind Lee and watched the whole thing.
"You said you couldn't play," Pope complained as he showed his final hand, a flush of hearts.
"No, I said I don't play." Casey corrected him. "And the reason I don't play," She grandly laid down her four aces on top of the oil drum. "Is because I always win. And no one likes show-off."
"Oh, snap, Boss!" Tector let out a whistle and applauded along with Boon and Lee.
Lyle roared a deep, belly laugh. "Ha, she played you, Pope!"
Casey knew her smile was smug and she didn't care. Her one talent was that she almost always won at poker. In fact, the only times she lost were against the person who taught her to play - her mother. Though she had a feeling when she used to play her Dad, he would let her win.
"Rematch." Pope demanded.
"Maybe later," Casey got to her feet. She had to relieve Lourdes of her Etta-watching duty. "But you go ahead and keep the pot," She told Pope, nodding at the collection of sugar and mints. "I did sort of trick you into an epic loss." Casey offered her seat back to Boon and headed towards the medic bus. Even when she was back inside with Etta, Casey could still hear Lee taunting Pope over his defeat.
xxx