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Autumn stopped at the entrance of her new home and took a moment to study its external features.
Their bungalow was a perfectly shaped rectangular box made out of wood and steel, with an iron staircase running up to a separate dwelling above where another family was assigned to live in. It was a farcry from the ramshackle hovels of cobbled-together junk and twine that her family had grown accustomed to. She pushed the sliding door aside to let herself and Winter in, then realized that the inside looked a lot cozier than the simplistic impression the outside gave her. The bungalow offered a modest space, with a bedroom and a wide living room. There was also a peculiar chamber in the far left corner, tiled and holding a small enclosed area with a metal hose and a hollow basin.
Winter trotted along indoors, eagerly exploring their home from corner to corner while his mother examined the strange devices provided to them by their benefactors.
Her fingers brushed over the shiny new radio sitting on top of the table next to the entrance. The tribal woman had seen similar devices during her runs when scavenging the ruins of the Corpse Coast. She twisted the knobs to test its functionality, wondering what surprises the thing held for her.
"...Gooood morning you lovely folks!" The lively voice calling out from the speakers startled the tribal, causing her to jump back. Amazed to hear the machine in working condition for the first time, Autumn drew closer to listen to the man's cheery and friendly announcement. "It's another bright and sunny day for the Dominion, and the weather forecast certainly looks promising! Expect sunny sun sun all throughout, because as you all know- anything but sun means trouble. And when I say trouble, I mean radstorms! Adventurers and prospectors planning to make the long trek through the desert beware, always bring adequate protective gear. And nothing protects you better than Radpro Enviromasks- Radpro, one mask is all you need. Brought to you by the Warden Foundation. Warden Foundation- your safety is our priority."
There was no kitchen available, but a cooking grill was said to be on its way, serving as a gift from the living quarters supervisor to the settlers. The outdoors would serve as their kitchen. They were expected to put their new appliances to good use, as well as maintain them in good condition as any replacements would come right out of their salary.
Autumn waited to hear more from the radio, but gradually lost interest as it started to play music instead. She walked over to the strange room with smooth cement floors and neatly ceramic tiled walls. On a rack hung two brown towels, and a roll of white paper-like material sat on top of the white hollow bowl-shaped object sticking out of the floor.
She'd seen other things like it in the stalls of a ruined storehouse once. The water in the basins there was dirty and smelled strongly of gunk, with moss and glowshrooms covering the rims and floor. Autumn couldn't help but wonder where the water came from, and she was surprised to find this same curious vessel in her home, even more so when she realized that the water inside of it was clear.
Bending down on all fours, she reached inside the bowl and brushed her fingers over the smooth surface of its mouth. It was cool to the touch and white like bleached cloth. Autumn smiled as she stirred her hand in the pool, then proceeded to scoop up the water into her mouth. The water tasted clean, but she could feel something mixed there, almost like rust and salt put together.
The tribal woman got up and examined the stall standing next to her.
A metal hose hung over the wall through a little hoop, attached to a metal pipe with two little metallic knobs. This was the first time Autumn had ever seen a shower, and she wanted to find out what the metal hose was for. She grasped the knobs and jiggled them a bit in an attempt to see if they were supposed to be twisted that way.
A sudden spurt of cold water soaked the woman from head to toe, Autumn squeaked in surprise as she shielded her face out of instinct.
Slowly, she lowered her hands as the gentle shower continued to pour. The tribal felt her smile broaden as the water sprinkled over her hair, shoulders and arms. She didn't even mind her clothes growing heavy from being soaked as she became lost in thought. As it washed away the dirt and grime clinging to her skin, Autumn had a newfound appreciation for the Dominion.
Her family was safe here. There was food and water in abundance, and there were jobs too. The days of struggling futilely for survival were well behind them. Although the Dominion's gifts seemed modest and inconsequential to when handing it out to the settlers, the tribals felt like kings. They had more than they ever imagined they could have in a lifetime. There was a shared feeling of gratitude among them, and an eagerness to return the favor.
Autumn remembered that she was to report to the nearest administration center as soon as possible, so that she could be given her assigned job based on her skills as a hunter and scout. With that in mind, she reached for one of the towels and dried herself up. Most of the dirt had been washed off, in a way stripping the tribal from her primitive roots as she became more presentable, especially when she considered a change in clothing.
Her clothes, made up of an assortment of beaded wrappings and an animal skin bikini tied with a coarse sarong, were still wet from the shower so Autumn quickly rid herself of the soaked collection of fabrics and skins, then wrapped herself up in the towel to offer herself a modicum of decency. She stepped out of the room and made her way into the bedroom. The woman spied a cabinet nearby and threw its doors open, smiling in satisfaction upon seeing some folded clothes among others that hung on plastic hangers within its confines.
"Mother?" Winter piped up as he emerged from the living room, "What are you doing?"
"Preparing myself for work. I'm heading out to speak with the Dominion officers." Autumn replied, slipping into the unmarked vault-dweller's jumpsuit she found at the bottom of the cabinet. The suit fit her like a glove and clung tightly to her body. It felt comfortable to wear, especially the shoes, almost as if it was made just for her.
"Winter." She pulled her son close and squeezed his scrawny shoulders. "I want you to stay here and guard our home. I'll try to get back soon-"
"Mother, I don't want you to go!" He grabbed onto Autumn's leg and hugged her tight, "Please don't leave me alone again!"
"Oh Winter..." The woman said as she ran her fingers through his hair. She knew the boy missed her terribly when she was taken from him, and he was terrified of losing her again. She got down on one knee and cupped his little face in her hands, "Remember what I told you, what happens when the coyote pups grow their teeth?"
Winter heard a lot of stories from his mother's hunting trips growing up, with most of her encounters with the wildlife turned into life lessons to raise her son into maturity, while also keeping it fun for him to listen to. His favorite was the story of the coyotes, one of the few animals that remained untouched by the effects of radiation. "They...join the hunt."
"Someone has to work in this family, and it has to be me. And you're a big boy now." Autumn said, "Stay here and keep watch over our home. I'll send your Uncle Woodland here once he's had his wound checked by the Dominion doctors."
"But-"
"Do as you're told, Winter." His mother stated firmly.
"Okay." The boy said, his shoulders slumping as he stood there staring at the floor dejectedly.
Satisfied that she'd made her point, the tribal left the house and joined the others walking up the street to the administration building. Most, like her, wore the same dark blue jumpsuits that came with their assigned dwellings. The settlers poured into the building lobby, and to avoid unnecessary crowding, the soldiers at the entrance ordered them to line up properly so that the assignments would go smoothly.
"Line up in an orderly fashion! Move!" One of them barked.
The settlers immediately obeyed, as most of them retained much of their servile attitudes from their long lives as slaves. Others were just eager to get through without trouble and formed the queue line, which stretched from the reception desk to the streets outside. There were hundreds of tribals looking to be of use, and Autumn wondered if there was enough jobs for all of them.
She did not have long to find out, for the Dominion officers interviewing each worker were concise with each exchange. Soon, it was her turn.
"Good morning. Please take a seat." The man at the desk greeted Autumn. He wasn't that much older than her, bordering at his late twenties. His hair was dark brown and well trimmed. A pair of square-rimmed glasses sat on top of his nose, through which his scrutinizing blue eyes peered out at the auburn-haired woman. "I'm Nordern Owens, I'll be helping you with your work assignment today. Go on, grab a chair. This'll take a while, so I suggest you get comfortable."
The tribal pulled up the stool and sat opposite of him.
"Okay, first up. Name please." He inquired as he swiped and tapped at a curious looking datapad lying on top of his desk. The pip-pad contained all the files of the registered tribal settlers in Liberty Point, which were stored in a secure military local server set up in the Engineering section of the building.
"Autumn. My name is Autumn."
"Pretty name." The officer nodded, "Just Autumn? No surname?"
The tribal stared at him, unable to answer as she was unfamiliar with the term.
"Oh never mind, I found it." Owens said, fishing out her file from the folders in his device. "Hmm...so it says here that you are a hunter and scout. Tell me, Ms. Autumn, how familiar are you with the coastlands?"
Autumn took a moment to think before answering. "I...I lived here my whole life, grew up exploring the ruins around us. It helped me when I started hunting for my tribe."
"Hmm, I see." His fingers rapped on the desk as he thought about her possible assignment, "If, let's say, the Dominion requires your input on possible places to build up resources- like water purifiers, mines and salvageable junk. Will you be able to lead us to these places?"
"I can. But that's not all I'm good for."
"I know." Owens said, "We will always have need for scouts. If not in the army, you may serve as a specialist attachment. Either way your skills, if proven invaluable, will make you an asset to the cause."
Autumn nodded slowly, not understanding everything the man was saying but just enough to catch his meaning.
"Now, let's move on." The officer swiped again at the datapad, "It says here that you have a son. What's his name, if you don't mind me asking, and how old is he?"
"Winter." The woman replied, "He has 72 moons to his name."
Owens arched a brow and glanced at the floor. His mouth moved wordlessly as he estimated then and there how many years were equivalent to 72 moons. He smiled at her as he came up with the answer, "Ah, so he's approximately six years old, give or take a month or two. You must be very proud of him."
"I am." Autumn nodded.
"Alright, I guess that leaves us with this." Owens opened a drawer under his desk and took out a small plastic card with a black strip running through it. He handed it to the her with one final instruction, "Take this and go to the door on my right. My right, your left. They'll take your picture and print your ID, so you'll have better access to things around town. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. Last thing we need is you wandering around trying to figure out how things work on your own."
"Thank you." Autumn said, taking the card on her way out the door.
"Next!" Owens called out as the woman walked through the printing room entrance.
Once she had her ID printed out on the card, Autumn was directed to the exit, her orders were to report to Sgt. Sterling as she was to be outfitted as an auxiliary.
While she was considered a civilian given that she was not officially attached to the Dominion Army, a scout functioned as an attaché and was expected to act as a soldier. Given the harsh conditions of the Wasteland frontier, the Dominion relied on the locals for aid in mapping out or aiding in discovering potentially exploitable resources, and paid well with extra perks as well as a higher monetary sum than most workers.
As Autumn walked down the street to update Sterling on her assignment, she spied her brother working in one of the large greenhouses the Dominion set up close to the harbor. Woodland, among the other tribals who had skills in simple agriculture, was assigned to work as a cultivator- which was the Dominion's fancy way of naming farmers. On the job, they would receive training on operating the many machines and devices used in coaxing life out of the dead ground in the greenhouses.
He looked better than ever, having been administered a super-stimpak to assist in his healing. The wound no longer troubled him, and the cultivator worked just as well as the younger men training with him.
"Brother!" Autumn grinned as she stopped to greet him.
"Hold it." A guard stopped her as she approached the entrance, "Shouldn't you be somewhere else, waster?"
"Hey, am I not allowed to see my family?" Autumn defended, unaware that there were certain rules in Liberty Point that had to be followed.
"Not when he's on the job." The guard stated firmly, "Go about your business. You can visit him during lunchbreak."
Autumn scowled and turned away, feeling the stinging irony of getting rebuffed the same way her little boy did earlier. She made a note of checking back on Woodland in the afternoon, and made her way to the barracks to speak with the sergeant.
The Dominion barracks had been set up in an old Corpus Christi hospital, and in the last three days since the rooks occupied Liberty Point they were quick to empty the rooms of all the junk that remained there. Tables, desks and chairs rotten from years of being exposed to the elements were flung from the windows to pile up on the streets. Beds, mattresses and old televisions were also thrown out. The bones of the dead, however, were treated with respect as they were gathered up and buried in a mass grave next to the greenhouses.
Sgt. Sterling oversaw the repurposing of the building personally as Lt. Weiss saw to the preparation for a large exodus of Dominion citizens who were coming in to settle at Liberty Point. They would arrive within three months, and in that time she planned to shape things up to better accommodate her countrymen.
"Ah, I see you've made good use of the jumpsuits. Fits you real well." Sterling commented as he saw Autumn approaching, "You ready to begin your first day on the job?"
"I think so..." The woman replied, glancing around as she watched the rooks work to tidy up their new home. Due to the heat of the late morning sun beating down on their heads, the soldiers removed their jackets and bared their upper bodies to keep themselves cool.
Never before had Autumn seen so many impressive specimens in one place before. All the men she'd seen in her life as a tribal were not blessed with bodies rippling with hard muscle like the men of the Dominion, who were built up by a combination of a healthy diet of ant meat, green and good exercise. Even Sterling, who was old enough to be her father, wore a shirt that looked like it was about to tear itself up at any moment.
The sergeant chuckled at the sight of her blushing cheeks, "Come on, let's get you out of here before you get yourself a heat-stroke."
"Y-Yes please."
Sterling led her to one of the supply trucks and showed her a table where an assortment of weapons and other gadgets sat, waiting to be picked up. A black rifle lay within a gray case, accompanied by a matching set of binoculars. From its polished stock to its muzzle-braked barrel, Autumn instantly fell in love with the weapon. She looked up at Sterling expectantly, hoping that he brought her there so she could attain such a beautiful weapon.
The sergeant was quick to notice her expression and he welcomed her to pick up the rifle, "You know how to use one of these?"
Autumn reached down into the case and with practiced hands she held up the weapon. The hill tribes had knowledge of the use of guns, as well as its maintenance. Passed down from generation to generation and ingrained into them as part of their culture, people like Autumn revered weapons like the rifle she held in her hands.
To her, it was more than a tool. It was like her spirit-animal.
"Yes." The woman replied as she ran her fingers across the surface of its forestock. "I do."
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