Chapter Seven; The Turmoil in the Travel

It seemed like minutes had passed before Shepard was shaking Rachel awake. She groaned and tried to hide her head beneath the blanket to stave off the seemingly bright orange light emanating from the holopads.

Shepard laughed softly.

"Come on, time to get moving."

"Don't wanna," mumbled Rachel from beneath the blanket.

"Well, I could leave you here. I'm sure the cat would love the company." The sarcasm was dripping from Shepard's tone.

"Hang on," Rachel began, before pulling the blanket down off her face and looking towards the office door. "What do you mean 'time to get moving'?"

"It's morning. Normally that is the time for people to get up and moving." Shepard replied with a small shrug, looking at the very non-interesting carpet.

"Shepard." He refused to meet her eyes. Rachel sighed. "Did you get any sleep?"

"Some," Shepard responded, finally looking up. "I sort of napped a bit in the chair." He gave a small, self-admonishing smile before rising to his feet. "But we really should get going."

Lake Champlain pretty much marked the border between the states of Vermont and New York, as well as its northernmost island, North Hero, being used as a key entry point to Canada.

Now, however, the islands were used as staging grounds for local military and refugee camps, with the remains of the Roosevelt Highway crossing being strictly controlled. The city of Plattsburgh had predominately been used as a training point, with the streets and alleyways being used as basic layouts for the bigger cities. The beach was used as a staging ground for fighting through the more difficult terrain, increasing stamina and endurance. The difficulty was the area surrounding the crossing near Gordon Landing, or rather, its counterpoint on Cumberland Head. It had become an area for those deemed unable to enter the city proper or removed from the city by the remaining military presence. Whether due to ration shortages, perceived gang ties, or violent behaviour these individuals and families were living on the margins of the rebuilding society, sometimes stealing from or attempting to raid the city itself.

This was a problem for Shepard and Rachel, especially after the two days travel and minimal sleep in an old movie theatre. To put it lightly, they did not look good, and they certainly didn't look like they belonged in the newly forged city centre.

The pair stopped at the intersection of the remains of Bell Hill Road and the 314. The only remnants of the early 21st century were the two white, wooden slatted guardhouses that had previously made up the entryway to the ferry crossing proper. Now, however, those two distinctly small shacks were dwarfed by armoured trucks, re-enforced steel barricades, mesh fences and floodlights shining through rows upon rows of barbed wire. Soldiers were everywhere, with guns mounted to concrete barricades, in holsters on thighs and waists, and held tightly in hands and against shoulders. A few red laser sights were scanning the crowd that had gathered, reflecting off the rain which had just started to fall.

"Great." Muttered Shepard. "I hate the rain."

Rachel looked across at him with a smirk.

"The great Commander Shepard, Saviour of the Citadel, humanity and the universe as we know it, doesn't like the rain? You afraid it will mess up your hair?"

Shepard raised an eyebrow in response.

"Come on," Rachel said, motioning with a hand, "We need to find out who has the authority to let us through." Shepard trudged along behind, letting Rachel lead the way through the crowd towards the guardhouses.

The group of gathered refugees grew less eager to let strangers through to the front the closer to the crossing point they got. Elbows were brought out to minimize egress and to stop people pushing through, so it took them around thirty minutes before Shepard and Rachel had reached the front. From here they could see a line of concrete blocks that had effectively created a no man's land between the edge of the crowd and the crossing point. Several soldiers were standing with riot shields, ready to respond to the slightest sign of crowd violence.

"It's amazing that they have the manpower for this" Rachel commented, her arms folded and a frown appearing on her face. "These soldiers could be out there doing some real good, supporting groups that need it, instead of standing here in the rain."

"They aren't really soldiers." Shepard responded, "Look," and he pointed to a man standing a little way off to the right-hand side. He was clothed in full body armour that was grey and chipped with age, but his scruffy beard couldn't hide the Blue Sun's tattoo on his neck. The merc laughed, seemingly at ease despite the obviously building tensions. Shepard bristled and reached for the pistol on his hip.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." The cool barrel of a pistol pressed against Shepard's neck, but the voice was gruff and immediately recognizable.

Zaeed Massani was still as scared as ever, with close-cropped hair and, if it was possible, an even more lined face.

"Zaeed!" Shepard cried out, pushing the pistol from his neck and wrapping the grizzled merc in a short but tight hug. Massani responded in kind for a moment before clasping Shepard's forearm with his hand and holstering his firearm. The pair grinned at each other before releasing their respective grips.

"That was one hell of a shit show Shepard. Must have been one hell of a goddamn speech you gave to get most everyone out alive."

"You mean you're sad you missed it?" Shepard's lopsided grin returning at the thought of Zaeed Massani being forced to listen to another of Shepard's inspiring, pre-fight speeches.

"Fuck no," Zaeed responded with a shake of his head, "But whatever you had going for you, I'm glad you made it out in one piece. I'm guessing you two want through the gate?"

Shepard nodded.

Zaeed sighed. "You never make it easy do you?"

Rachel looked between Shepard and Zaeed, arms folded, weight leaning back on one leg. Shepard blinked, and for a brief flash, her hair auburn hair turned darker, her eyes sparkled with a blue light. He shook his head.

"It's good to see you too, Zaeed" Shepard responded, ignoring Rachel's raised eyebrow at the charged moment. "Zaeed, this is-"

"Rachel Joesphs. I know. I hear your hospital is a bit of a shit hole now doc, something about a high rise blowin' up?"

Rachel nodded once, arms still firmly crossed, dislike for Zaeed seeping from every angle, through every pore of her being.

"I take it you two know each other?" Shepard interjected into the strained silence.

Zaeed barked out a short laugh. "Yeah, we know each other."

"Unfortunately," Rachel responded with a cold tone.

Zaeed barked his laugh again. "Come on. If you want through that gate," Zaeed gestured to the merc's hanging out in the rain, "it's not gonna be an easy ride, Shepard."

"When is it ever?" Shepard responded with a small smile and a raise of his eyebrow.

Zaeed turned and led them away from the gates and back down Bell Hill Road towards a small group of houses that had seen better days.

"A lot of the refugees will camp out here overnight, trying their luck with the crossing in the morning," Zaeed explained. "They are letting some through a day, but most only those with the credits to pay." Zaeed pushed open an old sliding door and held it open for them to pass.

The door closed with a snap behind them, as Zaeed moved around with confidence in the dark. A low thrum began as a generator was stoked into life and the room lit up under the dim pulse of too old fluorescent lights.

The room itself was unremarkable. A steel container not dissimilar from rooms abroad the Normandy or on the Citadel.

"It's not much, but at least it's dry. I've got some food in the cargo boxes if you need, but supplies are getting harder to come by these days."

Shepard nodded gratefully as he grabbed a couple of pre-fab meals from the locker and threw one to Rachel.

Zaeed sat down on the edge of a small cot and watched them as the devoured the food.

Once they had finished he said "You can chuck the remains over there," and pointed to a manual cube compactor. "I take the metal fragments and crush them down, easiest way to trade these days. And the crossing guards are always after metal."

Shepard grunted before sitting down on the floor, his back resting against the wall. Rachel had resumed her earlier position and was watching Zaeed with her arms folded, weight on her back leg.

"So you two want through the gate then? What's the plan, Shepard?"

Shepard sighed. "Honestly Zaeed, I have no idea. Rachel mentioned that some places were starting to recover, so I guess I'll head to one of those. New York, Toronto maybe."

Zaeed nodded, "Well it won't be easy getting through the gate. People will eventually figure out who you are, and well-" Zaeed broke off, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. "Hell, Shepard, there's a bounty out on information about you."

Rachel looked alarmed while Shepard scoffed. "When is there not a bounty on something to do with me."

Zaeed winced, "they say someone sent a strike force to get you out of the hospital."

"We met," Rachel replied shortly.

"So the hospital is done for then. They - the merc's at the crossing - said there had been some issues with communication, but then we heard rumours of collapsing buildings."

Neither Shepard or Rachel responded.

"Anyway," Zaeed said, "I've kept tabs on a few of the old team, and after everything, James Vega reached out-"

"What?" Shepard responded, his face lighting ups with a smile, "James is still alive?"

"You'd have to ask him for the details, but yeah." Zaeed answered, "He mentioned that he was looking for men to support up in Canada - Vancouver I think he said - and was wondering if I would help out. This was a few months back, and I was knee-deep in-" Zaeed stopped himself short before smiling a sad smile, "Well, let's just say I was chasing down old friends."

Shepard nodded, "You found him then?"

"I did," Zaeed responded shortly.

Rachel looked with suspicion between Shepard and Zaeed. "Do I even want to know who you found?"

"Like I said," Zaeed replied, "an old friend, and some old friends of yours Shepard."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, Cerberus. Or what's left of them." Shepard responded with a frown. "Absolute husk of their former selves, but that's not surprising considering the major players are dead."

Shepard winced. The memory of his encounter with the Illusive Man on the Citadel was still fresh, despite his distance from the event.

"They say that Kai Leng had subordinates that would have taken over, but given that he was a bit of a prick, I can't imagine he selected anyone with any brains. Certainly not the brains to put together an organization as sophisticated as the old Cerberus." Zaeed had continued his story. "Anyway, if you've got the room for one more, I'll tag along up to Vancouver. I'd say it's better than this place, but honestly, I think that city sees more fucking rain than the rest of the planet combined."

"So how do we get across then?" Shepard asked, looking fro Zaeed to Rachel. "If people want me dead, I doubt the old "I'm Commander Shepard and this is my favourite crossing on the Citadel" line will work as well as it used to.

"You said what now?" Rachel responded, dropping her folded arms for the first time and looking at Shepard with a mix of incredulity and absurdity.

"Yeah, well …" Shepard scratched the back of his head, trying not to look guilty, "It was a good way to get discounts, okay?" He finished quickly, immediately turning back to Zaeed and changing the subject. "I doubt we could outshoot them, considering the firepower they have."

"I can head over first thing in the morning." Zaeed said, "I know a couple of the guys from, well, from a past life, and I'm pretty sure they would be willing to do me a favour or three."

"Pretty sure?" Chimed in Rachel, "Not sure I'm okay with us staking our lives on pretty sure, Massani."

"Might be all you've Goddamn got."