Zero looked at Lieutenant Lundgren. He was as tall and could easily look him in the eye, but he was young. So very young compared to himself. He briefly wondered if he could even grow facial hair and with that he snickered quietly. Lundgren was going to be one of those that had the book smarts but no real soldiering experience. But this was part of the agreement with the Father. The Father came looking for him, wanting him. In exchange for saving his life he only had to serve the Father. That was fine. That was his purpose in life. He had served the Tin Men; served Azkadelia the Witch, and now served Him.

The map of the Central City zone was still on the table. Zero turned from Lundgren, looked down at it, and then back to Lundgren. "Get your men ready to leave by noon. We're going to meet up with your little regiment at Calvert. Be sure that they wear civilian clothes. There's no need to draw attention to ourselves yet."

"Noon sir?" Lundgren couldn't help but answer a little incredulously.

"Yes, Lieutenant, by noon. Tell your men to pack light, we'll pick up what need along the way. This isn't going to be a scenic trip." The last sentence dripped with sarcasm.

Lundgren's eyes glared at Zero, "Of course sir. We will be ready." And with that he nodded to the Father and left.

So far silence had been their only other companion on the trip to Central City. There was the occasional rustling in the woods but it was nothing more than small animals or deer. They could still make out the flatbed truck tracks. It was a beautiful winter day but following the tracks was a constant somber reminder of what happened the day before.

Jill did manage to get Cain to talk more about the wicked witch and the O.Z. He told her about the quest for the Emerald, Glitch, Raw, his son Jeb, and DG. It was a lot for her to take in and she wanted to ask more questions but she held her tongue. After talking about DG he didn't seem like he wanted to speak about it anymore and she respected that. It wasn't exactly like she was a chatterbox either.

It was hard for her to ignore how close he was to her. Every now and again he asked if she was warm enough and she always replied that she was. His strong arms laid down at her sides; holding Jack's reins slack. She wondered if it bothered him like it was bothering her; if it was he didn't show it.

After awhile Cain broke the silence again, "What did you do back home?"

Jill's head snapped back to attention. She had started to doze off. "Huh?"

He leaned just a little closer to her, "I said, what did you do to make a living?"

"Oh. Sorry. I didn't hear what you said the first time. I must've dozed off a little." She shook her head slightly to try to wake herself up. "I was an administrative assistant."

"A what?" Cain sounded confused.

"A secretary."

"And do all secretaries know how to use guns?" He asked. He was thinking about what happened yesterday. He wanted to know more about her. He tried to convince himself that it because of his old Tin Man self, but he wasn't doing a good job of it.

She smiled. "Dad had two daughters but he raised us like sons. He made sure that we knew how to handle firearms. He didn't want us to be afraid of them."

"Wise man." Cain smiled to himself.

If you say so. "I never went hunting or anything like that. I just mostly spent the summers picking off nuisance groundhogs and other critters." She added, "He had a small caliber rifle that I used."

"Were you a good shot?"

"I held my own. If I couldn't get the head shot I didn't take it." She paused. "I'm probably really rusty now though. After I moved out on my own I never went and bought my own rifle."

"True. But it's good that you know to handle one safely." He thought about yesterday and his gut told him that she might have to handle one again.

She didn't say anything else and neither did he. There wasn't a need to.

They stopped for a brief rest and snack at what looked like a main intersection. Cain said that they were going to continue north towards Central City. They were going to be on what the locals called the "Old Road". Since it was one of two main roads to Central City it was also heavily traveled. They could no longer tell which direction the flatbed truck went.

True to Cain's word, they arrived in Central City around mid-day. They went through the main gate and Jill couldn't believe her eyes. She wasn't used to being in a large city but Central City was beyond anything that she could have imagined. It reminded her of the pictures she saw of old Chicago from the 20's or 30's. She squirmed around in her seat, straining to take everything in. Cain looked at her and smiled. "It's something isn't it? It's not back to how it was before the wicked witch but it's coming along."

They continued down the main street. There was a mixture of trucks and cars, both internal combustion and steam powered, and horses and carts. It gave the streets an eclectic, chaotic feeling. Cain had to speak louder in her ear. "The royal grounds are on the other side of the city. Jeb and I live over there, near the grounds. We'll be heading home but we have a couple of stops to make first."

They soon arrived in front of a line of stores. Cain brought Jack to a stop, got down, and tied him to a hitching point. He then helped Jill down.

He reached into one of the saddle bags and took out a small wallet. "Ummm… I know that its been a few days and you don't have anything."

Jill looked at the store front and realized that it was a ladies boutique. Mannequins displaying various undergarments were in the windows. It was prudish compared to what they normally display in a Victoria's Secret. She looked over to Cain and started to laugh. It was the first time that she had seen him look downright uncomfortable.

They went into the boutique and a sales lady immediately came over to offer assistance. Jill noticed shelves of items made of white linen, lace, bows, and god knows what else. Well, what did you expect? She wondered how she was going to try to ask to see if they had something, simpler.

Cain watched Jill whisper something to the sales lady and she looked back at her with a mix of surprise and smugness. They walked to the back of the store. He took off his hat and fumbled with it. He glanced at the back every now and then. Another sales lady asked him if needed assistance. "No Maam, I'm just waiting for someone."

A short time later they emerged from the back and Jill motioned to him that she was ready to purchase her items. Cain reached into his small wallet, paid, and took long steps to get out of the store.

"You could have waited out here with Jack," Jill grinned as she said it. "It was warmer in there," he replied. Better to keep an eye on you is more like it. "Did you get what you wanted?"

"It did prove a little interesting. Their commonly sold items are a lot more involved than what I'm used to. So that's why that sales lady took me to the back." Jill started laughing again as she said it.

Cain looked at her and his mind wandered to what she was implying. She took notice of his blush and he quickly looked away.

Gruffly he said to her, "Here, get back up on Jack. We have a couple of more stops to make." She was still giggling as he unhitched Jack and walked him down the street.

They stopped at a Five and Dime store for some hygiene items. She asked the clerk if they had anything resembling hair gel. That was an oops. First he gave her a blank look. Then he went over the men's section and brought back a container of something resembling petroleum jelly. She politely declined it. At least they had hair spray. Then it was off to a men's shop. That was another experience. Cain's heart was in the right place. He thought that she would be more comfortable in another pair of pants and shirt and knew that a normal ladies' clothing store wouldn't carry them; at least what she was accustomed to. He forgot how they fit men's wear though. Needless to say there was a tense moment when the sales clerk forgot he was measuring a woman and his hand started to run up the inside of her thigh.

It was late afternoon by the time that they were done shopping and arrived at Cain and Jeb's house. The palace grounds were nearby and the upper outline of the palace was clearly visible. The house looked small from the outside. It was two stories and looked like the other ones down the length of the street. Cain said that since both he and Jeb were members of the royal guards they were allowed to live there if they chose to do so. It reminded Jill of the on-base housing her sister lived in when she was in the Marines. They went through a small gate and the path led to a small stable. There were two stalls and one had another large brown horse in it. Jill assumed that the empty one was for Jack. Cain looked over at the other large horse. "Here, let me help you down and then wait here. We'll go in the house together."

DG and Azkadelia walked down the hallway arm in arm. The late afternoon suns cast long rays through the open windows.

"DG, I would like to go out shopping with you tomorrow."

DG looked over at her sister. She was still looking down at the floor. "Are you sure? That's wonderful if you're feeling up to it."

Azkadelia looked up at her. "Yes, I'm sure. Dr. Addison believes that I'm ready." She paused. "Ready to face the world again," and she said it with a small smile.

DG smiled at her. "I'll let Mother and Father know that we're going. I have some lessons in the morning but we can leave right after that."

By now they had reached Dr. Addison's office. DG pulled her arm from Azkadelia's. "See you at supper Az."

Azkadelia smiled at DG again and opened Dr. Addison's door.