Bradley and Wade sat in the mess hall, while Calhoun explained the Vault situation to Sigma's leader. He told him about how they had chosen to leave and were attempting to build a town here, at the military base. "We need help, though," he added. "This place is relatively unknown and attracts very few traders or travelers. Our core skills as a group revolve around the computer and engineering fields, so we're not exactly producing surplus food."
"Have you any knowledge of resonance barriers, or generator pylons?" Bradley asked.
"Some," Calhoun said.
"What about mast radiators?"
"We can learn," Calhoun assured him. "I'd like to be able to work together with your group, to increase our supplies and move forward."
Bradley looked at the man, considering. "I can report your allegiance to Control," he said, "but it will require a few days' travel to the south." The soldier looked at Calhoun,then turned to Wade. "Tell Sigma to report."
"Sir!" Wade said, then paused. "Sir?"
"What is it, Wade?"
"The ghoul, sir?"
Bradley turned to Calhoun. "This ghoul, that found Sigma."
"Lionel," Calhoun said. "He's sort of... friend? I guess, to Celia. She made first contact with the outside world."
"Does he live in Stockton?" Bradley asked.
Calhoun was a little taken back. "Lord, no," he said. "He's got a shack somewhere else."
Bradley nodded. "If I were a prudent man, I would have him go home."
"Most certainly."
Bradley turned to Wade. "Sigma must report," he reminded him, firmly. Wade marched away. Behind the men, Celia marched into the mess hall, grabbed a few cans of food, and marched out. Bradley eyed the girl. "What is that one's story?" he asked.
Calhoun snorted a little laugh. "Our local wild child," he said.
"Did she report to you that she interfered with our operation?"
Calhoun sighed. "Yes," he said. "I'd like to hear more about this exploding octopus, actually. Let me get you that drink."
Mayer and Angus cracked a few jokes at Lionel's expense, after Celia left. He ignored it, turned his deaf ear to them, and picked up the acetylene striker she'd dropped.
His shoulder ached, so much he could barely stay upright. He squeezed the striker, watched the sparks fly off it. Based on what he'd heard through the door, he suspected Mayer had suggested something inappropriate again. He pocketed the striker and felt the warm metal through his pants on his thigh.
Very little surprised him, anymore. Losing his arm, sure as hell surprised him. Celia, trying to be his friend, surprised him. The multiple suggestions that he might even remotely be interested in her, not so much. And the predictable men making those suggestions, not at all. Stupid men, doing stupid things. It wasn't amusing.
Pain took a backseat to memory. He remembered Michael Harper. A thug, in charge, much like Angus and Mayer. When they'd met the first time, he'd gotten himself barred from Grayling for a few years. That was a punch well-placed, and he smiled at that. But then, he frowned, because that hand was gone now.
He thought about Lilian and Max Swanton. Max, the right hand of Michael, running town like they owned it. Bullying the traders and shopkeepers, threatening to shoot anyone who disagreed. Lilian had been whole, then, and was such a vain little priss. She had no idea what was going on. When she began the change, Max had abandoned her. Michael kicked her out of town. Then Max disappeared, and the only person who even knew where he might be... Well, Lionel chuckled to himself. I'm certainly not going to tell.
Michael was kicked out of town by the residents. Lilian tried to follow him, but Jen had prevented it. That was when he was asked to help Lilian. How Jen felt about him, he had no idea, but it was a convenient way to let the dust settle after the Harper-Swanton mess in town. And Lionel had been lonely for a long time, at that point.
He looked at the soldiers, still laughing to themselves. The kid, Wade, came in and ordered them to report. Mayer was reluctant to leave the "defiled" behind. Lionel ignored it, focused on another memory.
He pulled the med-x needle from his pocket, and stared at it. He'd been homeless when the bombs fell, back in 2077. Long before the black rain came, he was used to having to scrounge for food, shelter, and drugs. Joey Landis had gotten married, bought space in a Vault, and rode out the apocalypse in safety. Lionel didn't remember much about how he'd survived. Many, many, years of killing and roaming.
He jabbed the needle into his leg and depressed the plunger, and the pain began to fade away.
Relief flooded through him, and he wobbled from side to side, feeling the familiar wash of numbness over his brain. Eventually, his legs worked themselves home, but he didn't even notice.
Celia climbed to the top of Lionel's shack and drummed her feet against the corrugated metal. With binoculars, she could just make out the soldiers north of Stockton, erecting something similar to a radio tower. It had been cobbled together from existing tower pieces and other metal, and actually looked fairly good.
She hadn't gone back to town. Lionel had come up the ledge in a daze and barely made it into the shack before passing out. She wondered how badly it hurt. She'd never had any injury worse than that saw to her back. And she was concerned, because she'd been making a lot of noise, and he'd not woken up.
She watched the soldiers, working with Joel Bailman, pushing the tower to a standing position. Mayer was down there. The tall man loomed over everyone, and she could hear his laughter bouncing around in her head. She dropped the binoculars and climbed back down to the ground level. She wouldn't go back, until he was gone.
Celia looked at the shack door. She wouldn't let Lionel go anywhere, either. He roamed the area frequently, when he wasn't working on electronics. Now, he couldn't do either one of those things. Tears stung her eyes. Her fault.
She went inside, and lifted his remaining arm. It dropped limply to the mattress, and he didn't respond. He'd been asleep for almost half the day. He was breathing normally, but... She wondered if she ought to get him to drink some water or something. Lilian had mentioned once that ghouls were especially prone to dehydration, since they had little skin to keep the moisture in.
Lilian. She sighed to herself. Celia had wanted to go back to Grayling and tell her about what had happened. She felt she couldn't risk the soldiers even following her, though. Mayer was still down there, even if Angus and Bradley had gone south. And Lilian probably still thought that Lionel was out looking for her. The longer they were away, the longer she would worry, but hopefully Dr. Jen would convince her that they were alive.
She sat at the table in the shack, blew a curl out of her hair, and stared at her feet. There wasn't much for her to do, while waiting for him to wake up. She'd already cleaned up the messy pan that had been on the stove, which took all of five minutes to scour. There was Lionel's corner for his electronics, but she didn't dare touch them, and Lilian had taken her sewing bag with her. The shack was devoid of conscious company or anything remotely interesting to do.
She walked her fingers across the table. If she was younger, she would have pretended to be Blast Atomica, the superheroine who saved the Vault from Dr. Geiger, or Captain Celia Landtheship, which was what she'd called herself before she'd been scared out of space adventure. Playing like that, now, would get her killed.
Celia wondered if someone could grow up, but still feel like a child. She sunk her head down onto her crossed arms, laying them on the table. She made a funny face, then frowned, staring sideways across the room. All the hurt from before, that she'd pushed down inside, started to break through the walls in her head.
Mayer... treating her like that. Calhoun, too, but at least he'd been better than Mayer. And he'd backed off, unlike Mayer. She dug her fingernails into her arms. She and Lionel should lay low for a while. They would be safe, as long as Mayer didn't find them. And she knew Calhoun wouldn't tell anyone where Lionel lived, if Celia was there.
She was safe with Lionel. Even in his present condition... she looked over her arm at him. He'd come looking for her, because Lilian asked him to.
He also called you shit-for-brains, her head mumbled. ...Probably called that one, though. She felt beaten down by all the insults she'd received since her arrival in Stockton.
"Stupid," Pesaro said.
"Moron," Mike Rind said.
"Inconsiderate, deceitful, child," Ann said.
"You're being dumb." Ed said. "Give up your adventures and grow up!"
"Don't be a Celia," someone told another person, behind her back.
She didn't want to think about those words. She sat back in the chair and made her hands walk across the table again, meeting in the middle. "You put my men in danger!" she growled, imitating Bradley.
"I had to do something," the other hand said, in her own voice. "I thought the monster was gonna eat him!"
"You shouldn't have tried to save me," Wade-hand said. "I'm just going to shock you and hurt people."
"I didn't know you were a bad guy," Celia-hand replied.
"What a shame." Wade-hand threw up his thumb arm and waggled it. "You can't trust the people you grew up with, so you go looking for things that turn out way worse."
Celia-hand smacked the other hand, hard. She tightened her lips, feeling tears threatening her eyes.
Lionel made a noise behind her, and she jumped in embarrassment. She turned to look at him, but he'd only changed position on the bed. She was relieved; she didn't want to have to explain why she'd been acting like that.
She wondered what he was like with Lilian, when they were alone. He'd shown an awful lot of affection for her, lately, but she figured that was just the pain and the frightening prospect of being killed. She wondered what he was like, when he really lost his temper. So far, he'd been the same old grump, calmly accepting the situation and rarely raising his voice.
She wondered if he was scared, now.
"Hey," she said. "Are you awake?" No answer.
Celia went outside, climbed back onto the roof, and watched the men putting up the tower again, but this time she watched them through her rifle scope.