It was 2:11 and the weather has become very cloudy, much to the relief of the Exiles, half of whom had been producing fountains of sweat. They had hunted, foraged, and scavenged, for edibles for three hours. They had returned with all that they could find in the wilderness. . However, when they returned, they found half the bags that used to store food missing and Martin and Sanchez where nowhere to be found. At this, Paladin Bradley was angered.
"I told you trouts to guard the caravan! Where did the other two go?!"
The Knight Belle immediatly answered, "Martin went off to find a place to wash the bags, with Sanchez behind him. said they didn't want to waste the water we had."
"Smart to bring the neat-freak but did they even know where to find running water?"
"Well, a while after you left, when Martin started complaining," the Knight named Mac said complaining disdain "Some tribal came up and started conversing with us and asking questions like: 'What are your names?' and 'What is your quest?' and-."
"Whoa, wait hold on, I know where this is going." Bradley spat "Some guy in a dirty loincloth and a wacky headpiece walked up to you, said some funny words, and then beckoned to those idiots to follow him to who-knows-where for water."
"Affirmative sir." They said in unison. The rest of the exiles were already starting to cook their meat to remove the rads as the conversation went.
"And they just walked along with the man, who for all we know could be a rapist cannible, to what is most likely a trap, carrying nothing with them but armor on their backs and cleaning ustensils."
"What else would you expect from Martin?"
"How he managed to survive up to this point is beyond me..." Bradley gravely mumbled as he covered his faceplate with his armored palm. "Well, hopefully the tribes didn't damage his suit too much when they killed him, What direction did they go?"
"Oh! They went over..." Belle looked to her right and outstretched her arm to point "there..." she finished with a dreary and disappointed tone.
Making their way from the direction she pointed were Martin and Sanchez, carrying a lot more bags than when they left. They casually strode into the camp. Martin unceremoniously dropped the bags at Bradley's feet while Sanchez continued to look around for a less dirty place for the bags he spent so much time cleaning.
"I don't like your attitude soldier." Bradley said spitefully.
"Raurrrgh. I didn't even say anything?! The ****ing bags are clean! I spent hours scrubbing the smell out! Did some traces of soap remain on the burlap and coagulated into middle fingers or something?" Martin spat irritably "... 'Cause that'd be funny actually..." he added in a calmer manner.
"You just dropped the bags onto the dirt! They're filthy again you radroach brained retard!"
"Are you telling me the food will be strapped to the outside rather than put inside?" Martin asked, his words dripping with spite and sarcasm, "And its only dust, not mud or ****, just brush it off!"
"Must you two always argue like an old married couple that's been pumped with psycho?" a scribe asked, clearly having had enough of this.
"Shuddap scribe!" The two retorted in unison.
"It's true though, you should stop looking to fight each other! This is exactly what Maxson wants, for us to collapse and paint our failure as a reason for people to obey him." Marleen hoped that this could at least get them to stop fighting for a while.
Moments passed, the meat was being cooked and cured. The various food, hides and other items such as claws, bones, and eggs were being examined, then if deemed valuable and not a hazard, catalogued and sorted.
"She's right ya know." Martin finally said.
"I know," Bradley grumbled.
"Good, you two agree on something, no please let us work together on the task at hand. Which is surviving and continuing the mission, if only to spite Maxson."
The bags and containers both old and new, were divided by size and type, and then labeled and grouped together as to what they would contain. The food bags were designated to contain either meat or plants, and were further divided as to what meat or plant they should contain, such as what animal or plant it came from and its size. Hides were tightly rolled up and sorted by the different animals they were made of, the same went for the teeth, claws, and bones.
"Well, that's the first problem to be solved but now we have another," Bradley announced, "We have plenty of food and storage, but not enough muscle to carry them."
"That means we're going to either soon find a way to carry more than we currently can or we leave some things behind." Bradley continued.
"I say we leave the hides and bones, whose idea was to skin the animals too anyway?" one of the initiates asked.
"It was mine, I figured since we can't just wait for supplies, we're going to have to provided for ourselves and have something to trade to others for whatever." A knight answered.
"Where did you even get the bags Martin?"
"Oh, the guy who led me to the place to clean the bags and containers gave me extra as a token of good will. He also said he'll meet me later once he got his friends or something."
"Wait, he's bringing his friends? What if he did that to let your guard down for an ambush?!" Bradley remarked
"Mister, we're all wearing power armor, what's some arrow shooting tribal going to do other than scratch the paint?"
"On of Maxson's ancestors thought the same until he died from a shot to the head."
"They can make arrows that penetrate our helmets?!" Martin was utterly shocked
"No, he had his helmet off at the time."
"Oh... well unless he or one of his friends is a crack shot, I doubt they can shoot me in the eye." Martin said as he pointed to the broken eyeslit Bradley gave him.
"Well, I guess we still have to be prepared for when they arrive regardless." Bradley headed to a near by stump to sit down.
"Everyone," Bradley announced to the rest of the exiles, who had just finished eating, "We have some tribals coming over, I want you all to be prepared for the possibility of an attack."
"Why would you immediately assume the worst?" Martin asked, "I mean they did help with cleaning the containers after all."
"We have to be prepared for the worst at all times, you don't want to be caught off guard when something horrible arrives." Bradley said, "Especially when dealing with tribal cultures and self serving primitives"
Martin then pointed past Bradley, "Their standing right behind you"
"Welcome brothers of steel!" a voice loudly announced.
"What the hell?!" Bradley jumped from the stump and turned around.
"We welcome you to our lands and invite you to meet with our cheiftains."
