Chapter 4: Lost In Paradise

We left the bar and decided to explore the town while we worked our way down the streets. The roads we made with cracked and crooked stones in some spots and just dirt in others. Run down shacks and buildings with faded paint and decomposing walls lined the roads. People begged on the street and others just walked past you without looking up as if they were in a hurry and didn't want to be bothered. Kids with dirty faces played in the streets, I wish I could play with them but after all that has happened I no longer feel much like a kid any more.

We walked past stores with meats hanging from hooks or drooping off counters with flies buzzing around them. Some stores had odd items for sale or trade, we even walked past a bakery with fresh bread that almost masked the smell of the town.

After about an hour of looking we found Lee's store with the big green sign over it that said "Grocery's", we walked in a met a thin grey haired man with broken glasses hanging off the end of his nose. He looked up at us and gave us a big toothy grin and said with a raspy voice, "Well if it isn't Ellie, how are you doing today? How are the chickens your dad bought last time?"

"They got eaten by a coyote a few days ago actually." She said in a nervous tone.

"Well thats a bummer, I hope your dad knows hes not getting a refund if thats what you are here about."

"Um no I'm not here about that, but I'm sure he will be soon. I'm here to find Jane, have you seen her?"

All of a sudden his grin disappeared and was replace with a look of condolence. "Oh Ellie I'm so sorry but Jane is dead. There was group of raiders that attacked the town a week ago, they robbed a few shops and she was shot during one of the robberies. I tried to save her but by the time I got there she had lost too much blood for me to do anything. I'm sorry I couldn't have done more. I know how you two were close." He put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

She looked like she just got sucker punched but was trying to hide it, she finally said, "It wasn't your fault, you did what you could. Percy, I'm going to go on a little walk. I will meet you back at the room tonight." She sounded like she was trying to fight back the tears but was losing.

I nodded and she walked out the door. I turned to Lee not quite sure how to ask him about Tonsofoo after what had just happened. "Um…. I need to know everything about a town by the name of Tonsofoo, do you know anything about it?" I said in a really awkward tone.

"What is a kid doing asking question about a place like that?!" He said in a very shocked and stern voice.

I think my question really shocked him after what just happened. "There's something I need to do there. Do you know anything about it or not."

"Ok kid, first of all Tonsofoo is not a town. Its the HQ of the Black Suns. And second of all I'm not going to tell you anything with that tone of yours."

"I'm sorry, its just that a lot has happened the past few days and I'm still trying to process it. Can you please tell me about it?"

"Alright, only if you do me a little favor first. This place is still a mess after the raider attack last week. So if you help me clean it I will tell you all I know about Tonsofoo, even though that's no place for kids."

I looked around, the store wasn't that messy. I don't even think it was affected by the raid. It just looked like his mess but I agreed anyways.

He gave me and Jess a section to start working on. He sat on the counter and said, "First thing, you have to know a little bit about the Black Suns. They are the current "government" that took over a few years back, but there really isn't much government about them. They are pretty much a bunch of mercenaries and thugs that formed one group lead by a guy named Kirk. He is a guy that is really good with his words and making people do what he wants. He has set up a tax system so that any established settlement has to give them a percentage of their commodity, whether it be crops or resources pulled from a mine. In return they offer "protection" from raiders and other groups that would want the resources for themselves, but as you can see their protection program doesn't work so well. Now onto their HQ, it's this huge building that back before the war was called a super mall. They were huge stores that people spent all day shopping in but now it is being used as a super fort by the Black Suns. Its about a day, day and half walk east from here. Getting in isn't that hard but getting out is the problem. They let anyone in but there is a huge screening process to get out, just to make sure you didn't steal anything that could help the Patriots Hand."

"Who are they?" I said still trying to process what he said about not getting out.

"They are a group of rebels that are trying to take down the Black Suns, they believe that the people have the right to rule themselves and should have a say in what happens, much like how things were before the war, but some people believe that if it worked so great back then we wouldn't be where we are today. I think that they are camped out at an old airport four days north from here."

After he told us all that he could tell us we finished cleaning his store. We thanked him and left for the bar, It was already starting to get dark.

"Who do you think Jane is?" Jess asked as we were walking down the street.

"I'm not sure but I don't think we should ask until she is ready to talk about it."

"You aren't curious about her?"

"I am I just don't want to get nosy and start asking questions that she doesn't want to answer."

"Alright, sorry I asked"

We walked in silence until we got to the bar. When we walked in it was almost empty and Burt said we could start cleaning now.

Jess started doing the dishes while Ellie and I started on the tables and floor. I started to clean off some of the tables and put the glasses in a box when Ellie came up to me and said, "I'm sorry I ran off today. It hit me pretty hard to find out Jane died."

"Who was she?" I tried to have sympathy in my voice without sounding too curious.

"She was my mothers sister, I came here to ask if I could stay with her for a little bit while I figured out what to do next."

"What do you mean what to do next? What happened?" Again trying to keep the curiosity out of my voice.

"If I tell you what happened to me, will you tell me what happened to you?" I nodded my head.

"Ok, I was around six when my dad died and my mom was scared for us because we lived out in the middle of nowhere. So one day my mom met a guy named Walter. He was very smart and resourceful and she asked him if he would be willing to help protect us in exchange for food and a place to live. He agreed but turned out he was a nasty drunk and was very abusive, and yet my mom stuck with him. He forced himself on her all the time and beat her daily , and she still stuck with him. He was very smart about plumbing and how things work, he even invented irrigation systems for our crops and kept us safe, he even fended off 3 raider attacks that probably would have killed us if he wasn't there. He made his own alcohol still so he was pretty much always drunk. Then one day he hit the bottles a little hard and my mom accidentally broke his still while cleaning it and he went out of control and beat her to death right in front of me. I couldn't do anything to stop him." She had to stop for a few minutes because she started to cry. I put my arm around her and tried to comfort her as much as I could.

"You don't have to tell me any more if you don't want to."

"No, I promised I would tell you everything and I will." She took few deep breaths and continued.

"After my mother died it was just me and Walter for about two years. He beat me for every little mistake I made until finally I couldn't take it anymore, so one day I took these tranquilizer pills I found at an old pound and put them in his booze. When he sat down to have his drinks at night, the tranqs knocked him out cold and I ran away from home, and thats the night I found you and Jess."

We kind of sat there for a little bit and then I said, "Wow, I'm so sorry you had to go through that. Now my story doesn't sound nearly as bad as that.

"But you still have to tell me, and why you had to talk to Lee." She didn't bother keeping the curiosity out of her voice.

"Ok fair is fair. My mom and my dad were mercenaries way back when, but the the kind that didn't do it for the money, they did it to help others. They did jobs for cheap and for people who really needed the help. I guess one day they decided to put all that behind them and start a family, so my dad found this really nice house out near the Rocky Mountains. They had me and they had Jess four years later. Then one day raiders attacked and dragged my dad off and killed him. My mom took us away from the Rockies and into the hills. We moved often and life was hard because we had to scavenge what we could. We found a little house at the top of a steep hill and we lived there for a few months thinking that it would be safe enough. Then one day raiders came and killed our mom. Before she died she gave me a key and told me to go talk to Lee in Grokery and ask him about Tonsofoo. Now me and Jess have to break into Tonsofoo and steal a box from the leader of the Black Suns."

She just kind of sat there staring at me, then she said, "Well if we are going to be doing that we need a plan."

"Wait what do you mean we?!"

"Well my aunt is dead so I can't stay with her and if I stay here for too long Walter is bound to find me and I'm sure he won't be too happy about me drugging him, so I'm going to go with you guys."

I just sat there staring at her, then I said, "Are you sure? Its going to be very dangerous and to be honest I don't know how we are going to get that box."

"Yes I'm sure. I have nothing here so I might as well go with you guys, and besides if Walter taught me one thing its how to get stuff done, but I think that we should talk about it tomorrow. I think I'm ready for bed right now."

I agreed with her and we finished our job and went up to the room. I gave the two beds to Ellie and Jess and I took the couch. We said our goodnights and fell asleep.