"It's okay, push!" Alison instructed, prompting the vagabond woman to cringe and growl a little before crying out in pain. I wandered the outskirts of the camp, doing my best not to think about it. Child birth, famine of this magnitude… It was new territory to me. Territory that I didn't really want to explore…
"Argh! I c-can't!"
"The baby is coming out the wrong way, it's a Breech, Laura…" She paused, sighing heavily as she stepped back.
"Greg, was it? Could you look after her? I need to speak to my companion…" By 'companion' I had assumed that she meant me, somehow I got the impression that I wouldn't like what I was hearing.
'Greg' nodded and approached Laura's side, kneeling down and taking hold of her hand as Alison approached me with a concerned look on her face. She sighed, heavily as she reached got within arm's reach, forcing me to turn away and walk, until we were out of earshot.
"Sylar… She needs medical attention. Medical attention that's better than three stimpaks. She needs to come back to our village, so that I can-"
"No, absolutely not." I said, as I didn't have the resources to waste on random strangers, least of all stupid vagrants that got knocked up with no way of dealing with complications.
"She is going to have to make do, we need the medicine for our own people."
"Sylar, these people could become our people! Thye have experience from the outside. Greg, for example, he used to repair toasters for a living."
I wondered if she was serious or if she'd actually lost it. What good was a toaster repairman to us? What good were any of these people to us?
"Toasters?"
"Yeah! I know that it's a strange niche but… Think about it, he can repair stuff Sylar."
"That would be handy if we had bread to toast…" I pointed out, folding my arms and glaring at her.
"These people are the very definition of dead weight. If you can't save her, then make sure that you ease their suffering. If you can't do either, then we're out of here." I whispered, glancing over to them. I know that people have often accused me of being unfeeling and uncaring and that just wasn't true. I do care, just not about every Wastelander I come across. Some people have to be put before others, you can't please everyone and if you try to then you'll end up alone or dead or worse… Believe me, I know…
Alison nodded before looking back to the vagrants, she took a longing gaze at them, leaving us both in silence… I began to wonder I she just wanted to leave, to get away from the tragedy of it all and go home.
"We can just leave if you like." I suggested to her, getting an angry glare in response.
"Oh, you'd just love that wouldn't you? To just abandon them! It's bad enough that you condemned them but you aren't even going to stick around to watch the consequences of your actions unfold? You're something else, you know that!?"
I remained silent, she had a fair point, of course, I wasn't really asking for my benefit as I gladly told her.
"I was thinking more of you. If you want to leave, then we can. "
"Don't worry… Unlike you? I can look people in the eye as I fuck them over." She said, bitterly as she marched away, leaving me to it. Not that I minded, it was only natural to blame the guy who was conservative with the supplies. We just weren't in a position where we could be charitable, where we could let people like that girl walk all over us. Everyone had an angle, no one was innocent. We were all survivors in this desert.
I drew my Vault 13 Canteen from my waist and took a sip from it, looking out onto the horizon as someone stepped up behind me. The foot steps plodded along, leading me to believe that it was Ray, prompting me to look over my shoulder.
"Ray."
"Sylar…"
We paused again as we tried to ignore the screams of the expecting mother, it was strange to have to ignore the screams of someone giving birth as opposed to ending someone's life. Neither of them were particularly pleasant to hear but at least this was leading to something good… Well, it would be, if she had the means to keep the baby alive.
"Women eh?" Ray said, shuffling in beside me and getting my attention. I always fucking hated it when people said that, it came from the primitive mind-set that women could only have real feelings whilst they were on their periods. One good thing that could have come from the war was everyone who thought like that being vaporized in the blink of an eye. Sadly, it just encouraged such moronic thought…
"She has a right to be pissed off… I just condemned that woman to death." I said, bitterly, I wasn't afraid to show how disgusted I was with him and the situation I'd been put in.
"Oh… You ain't going to help her?"
"No, we can't help her…"
"Push Laura!" Alison cried out, readying her hands to accept the baby, prompting me to look over my shoulder, with a sigh.
"We'd lose all of our supplies if we helped her, it's not an option."
"Yeah… I mean, she would've died anyway without us, right? Hell, there are probably dozens of women out there going through the exact same thing right now."
"Exactly, it's an uphill battle, not all of these people can be saved. But we can save ourselves, that's how it has to be."
"Nah man, that's the way it is. It don't have to be like that…" Ray pointed out, with a heavy sigh, stepping forward and staring out into the dark, watching the orange flickers coming from the tavern.
"That guy you killed… You think his buddies will come after us?" Ray asked, getting my attention. In truth, I didn't, people were too worried about these things happening to care about why or how they happened and Raiders were one step up from feral ghouls, they just moved on, barely even noticing when their own got capped. Of course, there were also gangs like the Khans, Khans liked to make examples of people but they weren't going to go to much trouble for the sake of one man.
I was mistaken…
I was mistaken about a lot that night but the one thing that I was glad to be mistaken about was the baby. It was then that I heard the screams of the newborn, both Ray and I turned back to see Alison slowly pull the baby from the ground, slowly pulling it closer to her, examining it. The two of us broke away from our spot in the corner, not exactly sure what we should expect as we approached Alison from behind. We peered over her shoulder and saw the baby boy, crying loudly. I hadn't seen a newborn before, something that quickly changed as I became the tribe's leader and everyone brought their purple mutie-like babies to me for blessing.
Both Ray and Rick knelt down by Alison's side, fussing over the child as I backed away, nobody else had noticed or bothered to check on Laura. I hadn't even thought of it, until my gaze fell upon her. The woman lay limp before them, stomach sliced open, soaking in her own blood. I glared at the body, feeling my finger tips go numb as vomit pooled in the back of my throat. She had been gutted…
I looked down to Alison, who was already looking to me with teary eyes. Her lips twitched as she tried to control herself and stop herself from crying…
"Oh Christ!" Ray gasped, finally catching up as Alison rose to her feet, leaving the baby in Rick's arms as she stepped away, taking off her gloves and rubbing her face.
"I had to… They both would have died… Had to save the baby…"
"It was a good call." I assured her, it was, if it meant the survival of one condemned party it was still better than none.
"I asked her…" Alison whispered, swallowing hard as she looked back over Laura's body, sighing heavily as she turned her attention back to me.
"She agreed that it was the right thing to do… I stabbed her in the head before doing it as well, she didn't feel a thing…"
I placed my hand on the Doctor's shoulder, hoping to calm her down as she was now choking on her own words. I'm not surprised, killing someone in such a way was… horrific, no matter the cause.
"It's okay, it's okay… This… Turned out better than anyone could've expected, given the situation. You were a miracle, Alison."
"Pfft… 'Miracle'…"
"Well, you are… These people had no hope, I gave up on them and yet you were able to save that baby's life."
"What about the baby?" Alison asked, glancing back up to me.
"Laura said that she didn't know who the Father was and he's either dead or not in a fit state to look after him."
I sighed heavily, looking over to the other vagrants. That baby would be dead in a week with them…
"We could take the baby, I guess… It'd have a better chance with us, better than it would with them at least."
"Yeah, I… I'm glad you agree." Alison nodded before looking over to the vagrants.
"Look… I know that you said 'no' before but… Is there any way that I can convince you that these people can be of use to us? I mean, they know things that we might not have thought of…"
"Excuse me?" Greg asked, it was at this point that I had my first proper look at him, a scruffy, jacket covering a grubby vest and torn cotton trousers that had a knee missing. He stood before me, gazing at me with his worn out old eyes, which stood parallel to the lines of hair that ringed around his balding head.
"Hmm?"
"I heard you were founding a settlement?"
I looked to Alison, prompting her to nod with a smile as she urged me to hear him out, I sighed heavily and looked back over to the old man.
"You heard right…"
"Well…" Greg began, tugging at his jacket.
"My group and I may not look like much but I assure you that we can and will pull our weight. Vicky knows her pharmaceuticals, she could brew you anything provided you got her the right materials. Then there's me, I'm good at tinkering and then there's Reginald, he's… Well, he's an ex caravan guard, not a bad shot with a rifle, when he's sober.
And little Di is great at sneaking around town, so long as you don't mind her ethically questionable results."
"You have that little girl steal things for you?" I asked, furrowing my brow, I would say that I was borderline disgusted.
"What? Hell no, she does it on her own. Keeps her and her mother alive." Greg explained, looking back over his shoulder.
"Where is Di?" Alison cut in, making me realise that we hadn't actually addressed that just yet. Someone would have to break the news to Di that she was now an orphan and we'd also have to bury Laura's body if we wanted to avoid scarring her for life…
"She's off with Vicky, I sent Reginald to tell Vicky and Vicky should be able to break it to her."
"Is Vicky her… Well, related to her in any way?"
"What? Vick? God no, she's just the only one of us that Diana would level with. She's not exactly a good influence on the kid but I won't deny that she hears her out.
The kid respects her, y'know? Hell, she's the closest thing she has to a friend, which is why I'm not liking her recent psycho habbit."
"Great, a drug addict baby sitter." I sighed, rolling my eyes. Needless to say, Alison glared at me but I didn't care, she was trying to sell these people as good, contributing citizens and what were they? Old farts who's skillset would've been classed as 'useless' before the bombs fell, losers, drug addicts and orphan children who happened to be kleptomaniacs. At least the baby could be raised as one of our own but these people?
They were a rogue element…
"Please, I know how it sounds but… It works. Fact is, you people are going to need numbers to hold off your threats." Greg assured me, like I was a fucking idiot and didn't already know that.
"We have numbers." I said, sternly, he'd have to sell himself better than that. 'You should take us in, because we exist' isn't a good enough reason for me…
"That's the thing about numbers, Son, you can never have too many. You might have a lot of strong, capable men and women now but what happens if you need to show a few raiders what happens when they mess with you? Who's going to stay behind and keep the radscorpions at bay?" Greg asked, he'd convinced Alison and the others but not me just yet.
"You could do that?" I asked, looking him up and down, a stinger of a radscorpion would go right through his fat gut, like a pin cushion.
"Not me personally, I'd be tending the crops whilst Reginald, Vick and Di took them out."
"The little girl?"
"Well, in a few years I'm talking. You… Are planning on living that long, right?"
"Yes, which is why I'm going to have to decline your offer." I quipped, getting Greg to shake his head and step forward.
"Now you listen to me, I know what we look like to you. I ain't stupid and you ain't either but we can work your fields, man, I can repair your well! You don't need us, that much is obvious but you can use us." He said, sounding desperate now, prompting me to pause and think. He was right in that respect. I mean, if they were shit at their jobs, we could always exile them or something. Might not seem very humane but them's the brakes…
"Alright… We'll trial you for a week." I sighed, growing sick of this debate already, this got a mix between relief and triumph out of Greg as he did a faint fist pump, though I wasn't in the mood to celebrate just yet.
"But if you even attempt to put me or my people in any danger, if I even get the suspicion that you're trying to fuck me and mine over?" I stepped up close to the old man, I wasn't really much taller than him but that was okay, it meant that I could stare into his eyes, meaningfully.
"I will shoot you and leave your dying body out in the fields to be eaten by the crows, do you understand?" I glared at him, noticing his skin go a little paler, it might not have been the greatest threat but that didn't bother me too much, because he knew that I meant every word of it. I did as well, of course I forgot to mention how I'd break both of his fucking legs before shooting him but I figured that I'd save that for later in case I need to make myself clear.
Greg nodded, holding up his hand for me to shake, sealing the deal...
"Don't worry about us, we'll be assets, any of us break the rules and you can kick 'em out on their asses. I won't say anythin' about it."
I met his hand with mine and gave it a firm shake, keeping my gaze fixated on his eyes the whole time as I lowered my arm.
"Good…" I said, taking a step back.
"Now… We're going to have to bury Laura…"
"Please, I know that this is already asking a lot but we have a trailer thing for carrying supplies, can we carry Laura back to your village and bury her there? She was all that Diana had… I think she deserves for her Mom to be buried at her new home, don't you?"
I glanced over to Alison but I knew what her response would be…
"Go ahead but we're sticking to a tight schedule. You fall behind? You stay behind, got it?"
Greg reluctantly nodded, looking back it wasn't exactly fair, hell it wasn't at all but remember, I wasn't exactly at a good place in my life at the time. Ray was right, this was how it was, not how it had to be…