[Around 7:15 -7:30 PM]
Once in the camp, Fernando gathers the back packs and lines them up by Joanne’s Dub Box camper, opposite to his Dub Box camper, organizing it by size. He uses his cane to figure out to which bag the extras (stuffed animals, loose items, etc.) belong too. When he is done, the kids are ordered one by one to take their things.
The Major arrives with her jeep and her men, stepping out and bringing a couple of sleeping bags to Fernando for his inspection. He inspects them, and likes what he sees.
“I also bought a pillow and blanket for them. And a duffle bag that they can roll up and store their sleeping gear during the day. Do you want the change?” The Major explains.
“I’ll take the receipt later, have your men set up the sleeping bags outside in the open area in a 7 X 5 grid, in size order. I’ll gather the kids together when your men are done. The kids need to know how to pack and unpack their sleeping gear. I’ll need a couple men to help teach this, especially to the little ones.” Fernando tells her.
“I’ll get it done.” The Major says.
“Thank you.” Fernando tells her. They split off on their separate ways. He goes off to his camper and lets himself inside. “Minerva, Abby, I need you two outside in 5 minutes. I have a few things for the children as I try to figure things out.”
“We’ll be out soon to see you then.” Minerva replies.
Fernando then opens the sliding side door and steps outside. He walks to Ruth and Joanne’s camper, knocking on the door. Joanne answers.
“Oh, hi Joanne. Is Ruth home? I would like to have a talk with the both of you.” Fernando says to her.
“Yeah, hold on...” Joanne tells him before she goes back inside her camper.
Ruth opens the door and steps out of the camper with Joanne stepping behind her.
“How can we help you?” Ruth asks.
“I hope you can.” Fernando replies, he continues, “I have a situation and need some space for these kids to sleep in. So can I use one of your Dub Box Camper Trailers for them to sleep in? I guess 9 kids maximum and one adult to supervise them.”
“Which camper would you want to use?” Ruth asks.
“That on you two, as they are your campers.” Fernando explains.
“How many children are there totally?” Joanne asks.
“About 35. And 4 adults. The kids will be responsible and clean up after themselves in the morning. I just have figure who can go where.” Fernando explains.
“Are you taking any into your camper?” Ruth asks.
“Yes.” He answers.
The ladies look at each other for the moment before Ruth says, “You can have my camper for them to sleep in.”
Joanne throws in, “You can have mine too.”
“Thank you. If you are not too busy, I would like you two to meet in front of the camp in a few minutes while the kids are taught how to pack, unpack and zip up their sleeping bags. And the adults will be there. Once the class is done, you can talk with the adults and discuss who will sleep with who.” Fernando explains. He then adds, “I just need one more camper space for the rest to sleep in.”
“Talked to Hondo?” Ruth asks.
“I do not want to impose on him while he and Val are working things out.” Fernando tells them.
Joanne throws in, “Well, his truck can hold them for the night or two. That thing has about 8 seats in it.”
“It has 3 rows of bench seats and a passenger seat in the front. Depending on the children, one can sleep on the bench and the other can sleep on the floor.” Fernando explains.
Ruth asks, “Tell me, where were they sleeping before?”
“As I can tell, there is a large crashed air transport outside of town by the river they slept in. It is set up with bedding and all that but I got the Major to buy new sleeping gear for the kids to have and own. It barely gave them shelter.” Fernando explains.
“Then let us talk to Hondo. You take care of the kids and their adults.” Ruth tells him.
Fernando thinks about it for a moment, before he says, “Alright. Thanks on the favor. I’ll see you in front of the camp in a few minutes.” He then goes back to his camper, opening the side door before he steps in and closes the door behind him. “I might have space for everyone, if not, I might have to go for a Plan B that I need to figure out but that should not be a problem. But I need the four of you to take care of the kids in groups and you will be sleeping with them.”
“Where would they be sleeping at?” Minerva asks.
Fernando explains, “Ms Ruth and her cousin Ms Joanne each have a camper trailer like mine. That is three campers you and they can sleep in. Each one will have a group of 9 kids and 1 adult. That takes care of 27 children and 3 adults. The problem is with Hondo’s truck camper. That will be 8 children and 1 adult in his truck area that has 3 bench seats. And the rest can sleep on the floor unless the seats can fold down into a large bed and everyone can sleep on the bed. But if we cannot get Hondo’s truck, I might be able to get Karl or Marvin’s truck for the last group to sleep in. I’m going to tell you now, that is going to be tight on space, but at least they will be safe here. Now, I need you four to go out and gather the children and gather them into the space in front of the convoy. The major has set up their sleeping gear there for them to learn the zipper and how to pack it in the bag. Then they will gather their things and go to the camper. Ruth and Joanne will be there for you four to introduce yourselves too. They will set up their beds and then go out to hang out or play until 8PM. Then they will go into the camper and get ready for bed. ‘Lights out’ – the time they are to be asleep is 9o’clock. Any questions?”
They all look at each other and shake their heads, saying “No.”
“Good. Now let’s go.” Fernando tells them before opening the door and helping the ladies to step off the camper. The women go out to gather the children while Fernando goes to meet with the Major and her men. In a couple of minutes he gets to see 35 sleeping bags laid out flat on the floor in a 7 X 5 grid. “It looks good.” He says loud enough to be heard as he approached the Major.
“Let’s see how the kids will take it.” The Major says.
Minerva and the other begin to arrive with the children. Fernando tells them to line up on the side of the sleeping bag group in size order. He can hear some of the older kids thinking that they are going to sleep outside. He talks to the group, as Joanne, Ruth and other members of the convoy start to gather around them.
“Now, children – do not think that I am going to let you sleep outside. The sleeping bags are here for you to get them but first you need to learn how to pack them up, fold them up and take care of them. For as long as you are with us, this is your bed for now and you will be taking your bed with you everywhere you go. So you will have two bags to carry – your back packs with your personal things and clothing, and this shoulder bag with your bed in it. Now to start, I want the first seven children to take this first row and sit down next to your sleeping bag. Then the next seven on the second row, and the next seven on the third row and so on until all rows are fill. So please do that.” Fernando tells them.
The children do as they were told walking over to their sleeping bags and sit next down next to them. Hondo would arrive and heads to Ruth and the other ladies to ask what was going on.
Fernando introduces Major Moynihan, Lieutenant Benson and their troops to the children and explains why they are there and how they are helping out. He then hands the ‘class’ over to Major Moynihan. As the Major begins to explain the about the sleeping gear, Fernando walks over to the adults. They look over the kids as the class is going on.
“Since I seen sleeping bags at the crafted aircraft, this should be easy for them.” Fernando says out loud.
“Some of the little ones have trouble with zippers.” Minerva states.
“Assign an older one to be with that little one to teach them everything they need to know.” Fernando points out. He then adds, “The hard part is breaking them up into groups of 9s, with one group being 8. We can go this by age or mixed group with an older teen there to help you. The question is where is the last group going to sleep? Hondo, did Ms Ruth or Ms Joanne talked to you already?”
“No, I just got here to see what is goin’ on.” Hondo answers.
“Well, I got 35 kids and 4 adults, that is 9 kids per adult, except one adult will have 8. Ruth and Joanne are going to let me use their campers for them to sleep in on top of my camper until we can find a more permanent solution for them. Now I’ll ask you directly since you are here; 1) can the truck’s bench seats fold down to a bed? And whether they can or cannot, can we ask to use your truck for the small group of 8 to sleep in?”
“I would have to discuss that with Val, as we are still at odds with each other though we mostly made up.” Hondo says.
“Let me know as soon as you can, I want these kids sleeping by 9PM.” Fernando says to him. He then turns to Ruth, “How much food from dinner is left over?”
“Not much.” Ruth answers.
“Is there enough sweet water juice for all the kids?” Fernando asks.
“If I gave everyone 3/4 of a cup, then yes.” Ruth answers.
“Alright. It is up to you and I can maybe get the teens to help you again, but in my camper refrigerator are 100 frozen vegetable rolls. They only take 10 minutes in the oven to cook. It’s that I do not have an oven. You can also fry them, takes about the same time to fry them but a frying pan is smaller than an oven. If you start after the intro, the kids can have a small supper of vegetable roll and juice at around 7o’clock or so. Everyone else can have a spring roll and whatever is left. Again, it is up to you.” Fernando tells her.
Ruth nods, “I’ll get it done for you.”
“Thank you. But this is for them, not me. Take about 50 rolls out, so we can have them for tomorrow. And after the kids get one, give the one to the adults, and then to our Wessens: Karl, Marvin, La La, Li Li, and Terri. The rest goes to whoever you think deserves one.” Fernando explains.
The kids are seen testing out the zipper of their sleeping bags and putting their blankets in it. Some of the major’s men help out the younger kids with the zippers. After a few minutes the kids begin to fold up the sleeping bags and put them into their duffle bags followed by their pillows before they get closed up. The Major calls for Fernando to talk to the kids. He signals to the others to follow him to the front of the group.
Fernando takes ‘center stage’ to the children before he begins.
“Good afternoon boys and girls. Many of you know me, or know of me. My name is Fernando G, I am a rescue medic and doctor on a mission that will take me to Texas. Along the way I and my team of rescue workers will be rescuing many others along the way. Some will go will go with us, others will stay where they live. But we will give everybody we rescue the things they need to have a new life. So here we are, giving you a new start to a new life. But there are many problems to figure out and solve. Many decisions to be made that will affect you. One such decision will be where you will be sleeping for tonight and maybe the next couple of nights while we are here. You will also be fed during your stay here, and you will be kept safe and protected here. But we will only be here for a few days, and after that we need to decide as to what to do you. But if you stay or you go with us, you will be taken cared for by good people that I will leave here. You will have a chance to be children again, to go to school and learn your math, your science, your history and you language. You will grow up and become adults. You all will be somebody. So, later today, we will gather you into groups and you will be taken to one of our campers, you will set up your beds and go to sleep for the night. Minerva?” Fernando explains before calling her.
“Oh... yes.” Minerva begins.”Thanks to Fernando, he found two that were said were lost and killed: our friend Tracey and my sister Miniya! That gives us four adults to get things done. That gives four groups for us to work with, when you are sleeping in the campers, we will be in there with you. You have two hours before we get you together and get ready for bed. You are stay in the area between the campers. No one is to go outside to the bazaar or to the grassy field. If you need to use the bathroom, get to one of us and we will take you to one. You need some water, we will get you some water. Whatever it is you need, find one of us and we will help you. But you all, we all, have to stay together as a group. You need to listen to what we tell you, and you need to do what you are told. We got friends here, they will help us, we are no longer alone and on our own.”
“What about the Lawmen and Hector and his men?” One of the older teens says out loud.
Fernando steps back to center stage and looks at the teen dead in the eye across their distance, “I will take care of Hector, his men and the Lawmen. Major Moynihan men will take care of anybody who dares comes to us to cause trouble. Like Ms Minerva had said – you are to listen to what we say and do what we tell you to do. Remember, who came to the jail and got you out? Of course I had help in getting you here, but I took care of those who took you and tried to sell you into slavery. Believe me, killing is not easy, it is not done out of fun or prove a point on how big and bad one is. You are only allowed to kill somebody in order to save another. No other time, are you to take a life. So you are protected here. But you have to listen to what we have to say, and do what we tell you to do.” Fernando tells him. He takes a couple steps back and forth on the stage before turning back to the teen, “I heard a lot of crap about Wessen Superiority, and Wessens’ Rights. If all that is true, why did he not help you? Why did he not step in and stop the lawmen from getting you? I’m going to tell you why – because all that Hector says is Bullshit. He is only out there to save himself and make as much money as possible from it. To him you are not a prized Wessen worthy of his respect and love, you are a means for him to make money, using any excuse to get rid of you in order to make that money. And Wessens are not superior to Humans, as Wessens are from humans and are equal to Wessens. Thus Wessens are Humans but have been forced to become Wessen at a Lab Town and to be sold as a slave. Lastly you cannot be superior if you are a slave to somebody else. If you were not humans, I would not be able to do this!”
Fernando takes Minerva by her waist, pulling her against him and planting his lips on her for the moment. The majority of the older kids “Ooo’d” as the kiss lasted though it was just for a few short seconds. They break off their kiss and stare at each other for a moment.
He tells her, “Sorry, but I had to do that.”
“No, don’t be. It had to be done.” Minerva tells him.
He slowly lets her go and steps off the staging area. She stands there with the others, and nods. She then continues.
“Yeah, right... Well, like I said – you are to stay with the area between the campers and no other place. If you need anything, let us know and we will help you get it. Now, get your things and go to the area I stated, I need to talk with the adults about setting up the beds in the campers and getting water and bathroom access for you all. Breakfast will be at around 7 in the morning, we need to be awake and packed up before then. Furthermore, since you all will be safe, things might get boring. That gives you no excuse to be playing the Dare game or leaving the area without permission. This is the time for you children to relax while we adults do what we can to protect you. Now before we leave to the camper area, let me introduce you to the adults here: Ms Ruth you know as she is the one that had given you food, we will be using her camper for the night. Ms Joanne is her cousin and some of us will be sleeping in her camper as well. Mr. Fernando G. you know, and we will be using his camper. Mr. Hondo will be helping us through Mr. Fernando, we might be using his camper as well or somebody else camper. We will have to wait and see what is the final decision with the options we have. Also, we might be giving out some juice or sweet water before bed time. We do not have a lot but we will give out what we have. Lastly, you met Major Moynihan and her men – they will be protecting us and more of their people will be coming in to add to that protection. Furthermore, as we all know, there is no water unless it is inside a building, they will be bringing in water for us. Now, any questions before I let you guys go?”
“Any way we can get our walkie talkies? Most of them are at the den.” A younger teen asks and says.
“I’ll talk to Mr. Fernando about getting back your walkie talkies. But do know that it might take a couple of days to get them but you will get them.” Minerva tells them. She asks, “Before we go, any other questions?”
The children look at each other but no one says a thing.
Minerva continues, “Alright then, pick up your things and go to the area between the campers. We will be around if you need us. We will gather you together in group for bedtime later on. Enjoy the time we have left.”
The kids slowly get up and head to the area between the campers, many gathering into their little friend groups and standing or sitting at various areas.
Fernando had worked his way into his camper bus and was sitting in the driver’s seat. He had both Kitty and Meeshie on his lap petting them. He had the front windshield privacy curtain open on the driver’s side to allow him to lookout of his camper but it allowed others to look in through the opened space. Though many just glanced in his direction, Minerva was looking for him and found him accordingly. She walks to the driver’s door and knocks on it.
Fernando rolls down the window.
“Aren’t you going to let me in?” Minerva asks.
Fernando lets out a sigh before saying, “Give me a second.” He signals for her to go around to the passenger side. He puts the cats down onto the floor before reaching over to the front passenger door and unlocks it. He then sits back up on his seat, reaching down to get Kitty while Meeshie jumps up onto his lap. Minerva grabs the door handle and pulls the door open. Seeing Fernando with the cats and the passenger seat clear, she steps in and sits down on the seat while closing the door.
“The kids requested if it would be possible for someone to go get their walkie talkies from the den.” Minerva asks.
“I’ll get them in about 10 minutes or so. I just need to go to the bazaar alone and get a few things for breakfast tomorrow. I should be back with the radios as well.” Fernando explains.
“But alone?” Minerva asks.
“It is easier for me to work alone to get things done, especially if I end up in a situation where I have to fight. I do not have worry protecting somebody else besides myself.” He tells her.
They sit silently for a while.
She then asks a question, “Why did you kissed me in front of the kids?”
“It was to prove a point to the kids that Wessens and Humans are the same and equal. You should know since you are a hybrid of both, No way would you be possible if there were differences of superiority or inferiority between Humans and Wessens.” He explains.
“Well... It seems to me that there was something there in that kiss.” She beings to say, adding, “I know there was something there from me to you.”
“I do not want to get your hopes up in saying that there was something there from me to you as well. I am too focused on getting my mission done.” He tells her.
Minerva shifts and turns herself on the seat to face him. She says to him, “Somehow I do not believe you.” She pauses for a second. “You maybe too focused on your mission, but you are also in need of some companionship, to be with somebody who is willing to care for you as you would care for them. Somebody to love, to hold, to keep you going when you want to give up.”
“It would be unfair to you if I were to allow it to be so. There is sex without love, love without sex and sex with love. If we were to couple up, you would think it would be the latter: Sex with love. In actuality for me it would be sex without love just to get the edge off the stress. That would basically make you my personal sex kitten, and a sex kitten I do not want. I want a wife who can be true to herself as can be true to me. I need her to be obedient to me absolutely, but be able to act on her own.” He explains to her.
“I accept.” She tells him flatly.
“Wait a minute.” He begins to tell her, “How do you know if I’m already married to somebody else or not?”
“A man would not be travelling with his daughters if he had a wife. They would be with his wife or the wife be along with them.” She tells him.
“OK, I can trust you on letting you know on this secret.” He begins. She crosses her arms and legs tightly as he begins his explanation, “The blonde one is Ichigo Morino, the Event Manager who is wanted in Fight Town. The reward for her is a million dollars. But because she was instrumental in rescuing a missing member of our crew, when she called us to rescue her, despite the objection of others, I decided to rescue her. Despite her size and appearance, she is an adult in her mid 30s. And she, like you, have been pushing me into a sexual relationship of sorts with her.”
“Have you taken her yet?” She asks.
“No, even though we do sleep together because we need to save space.” He explains.
“Well, if you marry me, you can also have her as well as often as you like.” She tells him.
“Understand one thing, as great as sex without love can be, it causes a lot of problems with what relationships are there with expectations and demand. There is often little understanding for what denial that happens. And then the excuses, then finally feelings are going to get hurt. What for? Because somebody was not willing to drop their panties or suck my dick for me. I’d prefer to have a relationship that gives back what I put into to, and continue to give when for one reason or another I can’t. But that is the problem – sex is easy, love is hard.” He explains to her.
“I’m willing to put in what it takes to have a relationship with someone that has proven himself to me to be the right man who do things as a man for my safety and well being, a man who I will love without strings attached and support him in the things he does like he supports me. As long as I have that trust and respect, we can always work on love as we go along.” She tells him.
“So despite all that which you said, you willing to do what I want without question even though I might not like you? You willing to give up of yourself to have sex with me even if I no feelings for you other than a means to an ends of getting my jollies off?” He asks her.
“If that is what I have to do to win you, then I’ll call that a bargain.” She tells him.
“Then what about the children? You going to leave them behind?” He asks.
“I have to figure that out because they still need me.” She says.
“If you and your friends knew how to drive a vehicle, it would be simple to get you a camper trailer that can fit everybody and come with us.” He points out.
“Where would you get such a vehicle for us?” She asks.
“I would buy and have it cleaned up, repaired, overhauled and modified as needed. Somebody must have such a vehicle for sale or abandoned one.” He tells her.
“But that would cost a lot of money.” She points out.
“Money is not a problem. It is just a matter of time and resources. You, the other adults and the children adds to the number of mouths we need to feed but that is not a problem if everybody pulls their weight together and work to get things done like getting food, preparing it and serving it.” He tells her.
“And what of those who refuse to put in the work?” Minerva asks.
“Then they will be denied food, water, fuel, vehicle maintenance/repairs, access to money to get supplies and services, even medical care. If they do not want to be part of the group, then they can leave. Plain and simple.” Fernando explains.
“What jobs are there?” She asks.
“The most important is driver – driving your vehicle with your people from town to town. But a driver does other jobs as well as driving and will not be driving all the time. Food gathering or preparing are jobs they can also do. Some like Mavis, Marvin Karl and the teens do guard duty. Val, Ruth and Joanne with the Female Wessens of the camp prepare, cook and serve the meals and take care of the few children we have as well as drive.” He explains.
“And what do you do?” She asks.
“I lead the group, get information, establish safe route, find and obtain parking space for the convoy, deal with road gangs, find food and services, and of course help and rescue people. I establish what goes and what does not.” He explains to her.
“Oh...” She replies.
“Well, let’s go. I have to get a few things.” He tells her.
She interjects, “Could you wait for a second?”
“What’s wrong?” He asks.
She leans over to his chair, “I would want to go with you while you get the radio and things, but since I can’t...” She leans over to him and plants her lips against his. She then leans back to her seat with a half smile on her face hoping for something positive to come out of it.
Fernando slowly gets up and puts the cats on his lap onto the driver’s seat and step to the back of the camper. He tells her, “Come.”
Minerva was confused, she hoped for some kind of reaction and yet there was none that she could tell. She gets up and follows him to the side sliding door. He opens the door and steps out, helping her out when she gets to the doorway. He closes the door behind her and heads to the Dub Box behind the camper. He twists the crystal on his cane as he steps up to the tow tongue of the Dub Box Trailer, pressing the crystal into the cane. He then takes his keys and opens the metal box outside the Dub Box, showing off its contents.
“Here are the radios. Give them out while I am gone.” He tells her. He takes one with a tool belt and hands it to her. “I think that one is yours.”
Minerva takes the tool-belt and looks at it. She takes the radio out and turns it on. It seems to work normally. She shuts it off and puts it back on the tool-belt.
“How you got...*?” Minerva begins to ask but is interrupted.
“Never ask. Now, give them out, I have to go. I’ll be back in about ten minutes.” Fernando tells her.
“Alright, I guess.” Minerva says.
Fernando goes to his Dub Box Camper and pulls out his pull cart before closing it but not locking it. He then walks back to the Bazaar near the entrance of the parking lot. He heads to the juice merchant that he has dealt with before, and orders another round of six 10 gallon jugs but this time he was denied.
“Sorry, I won’t have 10 gallon juices until tomorrow.” The merchant tells him.
“Then do you have 5 gallon juices? I’ll take the same six of five. And how much?” Fernando says and asks.
“5 gallons I can do. That would be half price of the 10 gallons.” The merchant says.
“No problem.” Fernando replies before putting $40 in silver coins onto the counter.
The merchant’s staff step out from the stand and place the 5 gallon juices onto his cart. Salutations are exchanged and Fernando heads out. As Fernando walks out of the area he senses that he is being followed. Thus instead of making a left turn at the blimp parking area, he turns right, and walks around the whole circumference of the circled blip parking area. He then turns the crystal on his cane, and then pressing the crystal. As each step he walks, he is shifted out of time about .001 seconds into the past until he turns invisible. Being in the past he can see into the future that is the present. He stands there and waits to see what comes after him. A Rat Wessen with a couple of Cat Wessens step out in race walking fashion to where he stood.
“Where did he go?” The Rat Wessen says out loud. They look around and search the area within a couple of steps from where they were, coming back, The Rat Wessen repeating, “Where the #$@! did he go?!”
“We don’t see him nowhere, boss.” One of the Cat Wessens says.
The Rat Wessen pulls out a handheld radio, turning it on and looking at its face for a moment. Fernando also looks at the radio, just has a couple of knobs on it, one for volume, another for squelch and a third with a series of color dots on it. He recognizes it as a Motorola Radio that operates on the Business Band of 74cm, just above the 73cm Amateur Band, mostly used by store management and mall security staff in the Pre-Chaos days (
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_band ). He sees a knob on the radio pointing to the Yellow dot on a face with several different color dots, signifying it is on channel 5 at 464.550 MHz .
“Yeah boss, we lost him.” The Rat Wessen begins to say into the radio.
An all too familiar voice responds, “How did you lose him, pendejo?”
“He just disappeared!” The Rat Wessen replies.
“Nobody disappears. Now go find him!” The familiar voice on the radio yells.
The three Wessens look at each other before the Rat Wessen replies, “Yes boss! Right away boss!” He then turns off the handheld radio and pots it into his pocket.
Fernando walks up to them, still invisible to them, walks up to the rat listening to their argument though not caring for what is being said. He reaches into the Rat Wessen’s pocket and grabs the radio by the antenna and slowly slides it out of his pocket. Once out of the Rat Wessen’s pocket, Fernando takes radio into his sphere of temporal influence and makes it disappear from their view. He stops walking with them, letting them continue on their way as they argued before cutting to the left through the blimp parking area. Once he got near the parking lot entrance, he phases himself back into normal time and heads to his Dub Box camper trailer.
Ruth was in his Dub Box camper cooking up the spring rolls on his little stove, making short work of it. He brings in and shows her the smaller 5 gallon juice jugs he bought in, stating, “This is in case we run out of juice but still have kids to give juice too.”
“We should have enough for everyone.” Ruth says as she continues cooking the spring rolls, five at a time in the frying pan she was using.
“Well, thank you for helping. I need to get the adults and show them how to access the toilet, should only take a few minutes. Then I’ll be around if not then in my camper.” He tells Ruth.
“See you around, then.” Ruth replies.
After putting away his pull cart, Fernando steps out of the Dub Box Camper. He walks around the camp until he finds Minerva, Miniya, Tracey and Abby in the area by Karl’s SUV overlooking the children as they hang around the area. He walks up to them.
“Ladies, come with me.” He tells them.
“Where are we going?” Miniya asks.
“Before the kids go to bed, I need to show you all the bathroom inside the camper.” He tells them, “Just follow me. Since three of the campers are the same, what I show you in my camper applies to the other two. The problem still lies with Hondo’s camper. If I cannot get Hondo’s camper, that means that last group will sleep in Karl’s or Marvin’s SUV and that does not have a bathroom. If we get Hondo’s camper, you will be sleeping in the truck part of the camper, and the bathroom is inside the camper part, which is easy to get too when you are inside. So some, let me show you the campers and bathrooms. I also need to show you how to set up the beds.” Fernando explains to them before leading them away from the kids, who basically take care of themselves.
He leads them to Ruth and Joanne’s vehicles, pointing them out and then to the Dub Box Campers behind them, “The panel truck is Ruth’s main camper where she and her family, including Joanne, eat and sleep in, this truck on the other side is Joanne’s truck. They both pull a Dub Box Camper like mine. That is where you will be sleeping in. Ruth uses her camper during the day as a play pen for her young boys – cousins who also survived their purge, so in the morning, whoever sleeps in Ruth’s caper just keep it clean and leave it before they come in. Come to my Camper...” He walks behind and around Joanne’s camper to his camper. Ruth was already outside with a couple of teens setting up the table for the supper/snack time that is soon to come. Fernando walks in with the ladies following him. He continues to explain while he demonstrates, “This is my Dub Box Camper. Up on the ceiling is a curved rod, that is for the curtain for the toilet that is inside this box. Open the box first and the toilet, you the pull the curtain around for privacy. When you are done, wipe yourself with some toilet paper, put it in the toilet and flush it. Then you fix up your clothes, pull away the curtain into its slot in the wall, and close up the toilet seat and then the box that covers it. Any questions?”
“Where does the waste go when you flush it?” Miniya asks.
“There is a tank under the toilet that you pull out and empty every 2 to 3 weeks. There are some chemicals inside it to take care of the waste so it does not smell or pollute the area. When I leave this place, I will empty and clean the tank and put in new chemicals in it before I go.” Fernando explains. He then asks, “Any more questions?”
The ladies look at each other and shake their heads.
“OK, now for the bed. Look on the floor, there is a metal ring here. That ring is for the table and bed support.” He explains as he lifts up a cushion on one of the seats and pulls out two metal round columns, a long one and a short one. “You want the short one and put it into the ring.” He then looks for a large panel with a cushion on one side. “This is both the table top and the bed, depending on how you put it on the column. Line up the edge of the rear seat with the edge of the panel and along the sides, put it down onto the support column and make sure it is on the edge of the seat frames on the sides and not on the cushion. Then you the seat back cushions and put them on panel, and there you have your bed. You can sleep up to 4 adults or 6 children. The rest will have to sleep on the floor. I have some cushion blankets to put on the floor to make it softer and warmer to sleep on. Any questions?”
“Is there any heat, in case it gets cold?” Miniya asks.
Fernando pulls out a propane bottle heater he has from the cabinet, “I have these heaters but they cannot be used at night because they make a small amount of poison when heating the camper. During the day, when the door is opened and closed, it is fine to use as the poison is let out when the door is open, but at night when the camper is sealed up, it can be dangerous as it builds up inside the camper. Only thing I can suggest is to share space and blankets and get warm that way. Besides, the sleeping bags I had Major Moynihan got are the best to keep you warm on cold nights. You should have the windows open a tiny bit to let flow inside the camper. Any questions?”
The ladies look at each other and shake their heads, but Minerva then asks, “Who will be sleeping where?”
“That is for you to decide. Though I recommend that the last group be the youngest, and hopefully Hondo can take them in. I also have to decide on Plan B and Plan C inside Hondo cannot help out. Look, do not cite him if things are not possible. There are some shit going on that he has to take care of and as such he has to deal with them, throwing a group of little ones for them to sleep in his camper might make things worse for him.” Fernando explains.
What about the two campers at the other side of the convoy which one has a medical cross on?” Miniya asks.
“That is Plan C. In fact, let’s go.” Fernando tells them. He leads them to the front of his camper and to the other end of the convoy. Along the way, he gets Karl and Marvin to go with him. In under a minute they are at Jeanette’s side of the convoy camp, walking up to them as they talked about who knows what.
“Excuse me ladies.” Fernando tries to interrupt their conversation.
“Yes, Fernando?” One of the Jeanettes answers in an annoyed tone.
“As you noticed, I rescued a large group of children with their adults, and to make a long story short, I need one more camper for a slice of that group to sleep in. That is, if I cannot have Hondo’s truck to have them sleep in. Karl, Marvin, if I cannot have Hondo’s truck, can I use your SUV? And if I cannot have Your SUVs, Jeanette, can I have one of the Dub Box Campers you are not using?” Fernando asks them.
Karl and Marvin answer, “Yes, you can use our trucks.” “Yeah, you can.”
Everyone turns to the Jeanettes, who one of them asks, “How many are you talking about?”
“Eight kids and one adult to oversee them, they will be the youngest kids. And they will clean up before they leave for the day. It is just for a couple of nights until General Jastrey comes in and takes over the group.” Fernando explains.
“What happened to their place?” The same Jeanette asks.
“Like any other Purge Victim – they were trashed and burned, and they were put to be sold into slavery when I rescued them.” Fernando tells them.
“They can sleep with my cousins in my camper. I’ll just sleep in the truck.” Marvin says, annoyed that Jeanette would ask such a question.
“Thank you, Marvin. You too Karl.” Fernando says to them. He turns to the ladies of his group, “Let’s go. It will be bedtime in an hour and a half.” Before he leaves, he says to Karl and Marvin, “In about half an hour, I’ll be giving out vegetable spring rolls to the kids, if there are any extras left, get yourself one along with some sweet water juice.”
“Thanks!” “We definitely will.” Both Marvin and Karl reply respectfully. They begin to go back to their guard patrol until it is time for them to take their nightly rest.
Fernando and the ladies begin to walk to their, Jeanette runs after him and stop them from continuing further. The other Jeanette catches up to them.
“Why are you delaying Gabrielle’s rescue?” Jeanette all but yells at him.
“Gabrielle will be rescued when it is her time to be rescued. Not before then. Now is not her time to be rescued, and she is also some 450 plus miles away, but others also need our help as well, Spirits be damned. They get in the way of a rescue – any rescue – I will give them the same respect as I would anyone else that gets in the way. If you want to go fourth and rescue Gabrielle on your own, you do so alone and without the protection and services I created with this convoy.” Fernando tells her.
Jeanette scowls at him, the other whispers something in her ear which makes away from the situation. The second Jeanette stays.
“And what do you want?” Fernando scowls at her.
“Something is not right, and sooner or later I am going to find out what it is, then I am going to take action.” The second Jeanette tells him.
“I do not care if you got up and danced the Hokey Pokey. We need to recharge, get supplies, go through dangerous roads, deal with high way gangs, get to towns, make deals and help those we can along the way. In that I have not seen your other self do anything in edgewise to help or lead like she is supposed to. So tell her that she has to put into the group or she can leave. Leader or not, everyone puts into the group. Right now I need space to help some kids in need until General Jastrey comes to pick them up. She has already sent in some of her men to protect us since this is not a friendly town where a gold coin has more value than a human life.” Fernando tells her.
The second Jeanette lets out a sigh before she walks away.
Minerva asks when the second Jeanette is out of hearing range, “What was that about?”
“It is a long story. One day I will tell it to you.” Fernando tells her.
“Alright...” Minerva replies.
As they head back to Fernando’s electric camper, they meet up with Hondo who was at the back of Bronco’s trailer. Fernando walks up to him with the ladies behind him.
“Excuse me, Hondo. How are things?” Fernando says and asks.
“Oh, wus up Jefe... I have not been able to talk to Val about the space yet.” Hondo replies.
“That is not what I’m here about.” Fernando says to him. He takes out the radio from his pocket and hands it to him, “I was in town and heard a couple of Wessens arguing to somebody with a Spanish Accent on this radio, so I pretended to walk by him and bump him by accident, making his radio disappear from his pocket and into mine – if you know what I mean.” Fernando tells him.
Hondo nods as he takes the radio. He nods, “Looks like a rent-a-mall-cop radio from back in the day.”
“I thought so too. So look up the Business Band frequencies and see what those color dots match up to. But they were talking on that channel, I did not changed the channel since I got it, hopefully he had not either.” Fernando tells him.
“I’ll be listening in on it then.” Hondo says.
“OK, we’ll talk later then.” Fernando tells him. He then turns to the ladies behind him, “Let’s go.”
Fernando walks around the Bronco, past Hondo’s camper and to his electric one. The kids were in the boxed in area where assorted camper positioned. He looks at the ladies, “I hope that solves everything. In the least it is a start and everyone will have a place to sleep in for tonight. Tomorrow will be better. Then we can deal with what decisions you four make in staying or leaving with us.”
“We need to talk about this another time.” Minerva says to him.
“We are only here for a few days, a week if you are lucky. So make your decision as soon as possible and I’ll see about getting you a vehicle to drive and house the kids in, which takes time for it be cleaned up and set up professionally for you to drive and house the kids in. That takes at least 4 to 5 days to do. We cannot afford to lose time like that.” Fernando tells her.
“We’ll get you an answer as soon as we can.” Minerva tells him.
“Alright. I’ll see you ladies later. I need my rest.” Fernando tells them before walking away. He walks around his camper to the side sliding door.
Minerva goes to follow him after telling her friends she will see them later. She calls to Fernando as he begins to step into his camper.
“Fernando?” Minerva calls to him.
Fernando stops from entering his camper and turns to face her. “Yes?”
“Oh, nothing really. Just want to continue with our talk.” She replies.
Fernando steps out of the doorway and lets her go in first. He then goes in and closes the door behind him. He goes to the sink/stove counter and takes off his jacket. He then goes about cleaning the cat food and water bowls. He then fills them with cat food and fresh water, before petting the older cat, Meeshie.
“Sorry girl. I forgot about the time.” Fernando tells her as he pets her softly. Meeshie guides Kitty to the bowl where they shared the food. He then goes to the side of the bed and sits down. He turn to Minerva, “What do you want?”
“Well, I just wanted to know.” She begins to say.
“Know what? We already discussed what was needed to be discussed. There is no more to discuss about.” He tells her before reaching up and popping open the pop-up tent of the camper.
Minerva looks down at the floor of the camper, silenced for the moment.
Fernando takes off his jacket and shoulder holster, taking a seat on the side of his bed by the sink/stove counter. “If you dare think we are going to have a loving relationship because we are having sex, like I said before... it would be unfair to you if we allowed ourselves to have a relationship that does not exist. Again, there is sex without love, love without sex and sex with love. If we were to couple up, you would think it would be sex with love. In actuality for me it would be sex without love. Now I know you stated that you would accept and want to be my wife, but I question whether you would be able to or not and why would you want to be. If you think in being a wife to me would grant you a free ride to escape this place you would think wrong. Everyone in this convoy works. Everyone in this convoy has a job. Except for the youngest or weakest of the group, there is no exception to this rule.”
“I understand all that, and know that things are not easy in this life. But we do what we can for each other. This place is too corrupted, between Hector and the Separated Wessens and the Paid Lawmen enforcing laws and rules like a merchant selling their wares. And the slavery in this town – most Wessens who are arrested are not sent to jail and made to see a judge; they are taken to a slave ship and taken away to who knows where. The same with people deemed as troublemakers by those paying the Lawmen. In short – people, humans, Wessens, and mutants disappear at a drop of a gold coin. Because of that, and the protection of the children, I would do anything for you to help us. Even leave this place if I could.” Minerva explains to him.
“Then I dare ask, you in love with me or something?” He asks, seemingly as if he was switching the subject but wasn’t. He is looking for something in her answers.
“You could say that, but it is more that I am in love with you for what you can do for us while being in love with you as a person is secondary. Though I will say that loving you as a person would be easy since I’m already there, it’s the reason to why that needs to be changed to a more personal one than a professional one it is now but that would be easy to do. Least to say for whatever the reason you already stolen my heart.” She explains.
“Well, I’m sorry that I cannot reciprocate those feelings. I’ll do what I can for you and the others but that is about it. I’m not here to settle down, have kids, build a house over farm land – or whatever.” He tells her. He adds, “That is not why you are here.”
He gets up and starts setting up the bed areas for the night. He sets up his bed first, taking the back panel for the passenger seat and putting it across the space between the two seats, turning it into a single bed for one. He goes back to the bed to get his pillow and blanket which he sets up on the makeshift bed. Once done with his bed, He works on setting up Maggie’s bed on the floor, putting the padding of the bed on the camper’s ground first.
Minerva, after some time to think, replies, “If it were not for the children, I would go with you and want to be your friend, and hopefully become something more as time goes on.”
“Let’s see what happens. General Jastrey might take in the children like she did with Central Town. Or if you and your friends can drive, get a vehicle that can fit you all. We just have a few days to figure that out.” Fernando explains.
“Well, anyways... go get your friends over. There is one more pill for you four to take. I already added some to the children’s drinks so they can heal better throughout the night. After you four take the pills, then gather the kids for their night time snacks before they prepare for bed.” He tells her, though not entirely true.
“Alright then...” Minerva says. She then opens the side sliding door, heading out to find her friends.
Fernando goes into his medical bag and pulls out a metal box of pills. Unlike his usual set of healing pills, this set was the immortality pills, which he has a couple hundred off. He sets four aside for them. He steps out onto the camper sliding door and has a seat on the floor. Ruth was talking to Minerva and her friends, telling them to get the kids together for them to get their evening snack/small meal. This delays Minerva returning with her friends but is not a problem as Fernando saw the interaction and takes it in stride. He shifts over on the Camper floor to have his back against the door frame while he sits. The cats walk up to him and sit next to him.
In about a minute the children line up by the tables Ruth and the teens set up. Ichigo arrives with a couple of Spring Rolls and a couple of drinks, handing one of each to Fernando. She sits down on the camper’s step next to him.
“What’s going on?” Ichigo asks.
“Nothing much. Waiting on Minerva and the others. You should get the bed ready for you and the girls then get Macey, Zoey and Maggie when you’re done.” Fernando says.
Ichigo nods as they continue to eat their little snack meal. They were done in about five minutes and after a quick clean up, Ichigo goes ahead with setting up the rear camper bed. While she is preparing the bed, Minerva and her friends arrive at camper, each with a spring roll and drink in their hands.
“You wanted us to come back?” Minerva asks.
Fernando takes his little metal can of pills, “Yes. I need you to take this pill to finish on your healing of your injuries.”
“OK...” Minerva says for them.
“Do I need to take it? I feel fine as it is.” Tracey says.
“You do not know what diseases you might be carrying you got infected with working at Giovanni’s. This pill will cure you of that.” Fernando tells her, handing out the pills to Minerva, Miniya and Abby. He gives the last pill to Tracey-Ann who reluctantly takes it.
The girls look at each other before they take the pill, with Minerva being the first to take hers. Miniya follows as soon as Minerva finishes taking hers. Abby immediately follows Miniya, and finally Tracey-Ann takes her pills when the others turn to look at her.
“Alright ladies, start forming your groups to go to bed. The youngest ones should have a camper with a bathroom for them to use as the little ones tend to go the bathroom more than the older kids. And whoever has the least amount of kids will be sleeping in the Karl’s or Marvin’s SUV. So choose your groups and discuss which campers you will be.” Fernando explains.
They nod at him.
“I’ll be back, I need to talk to Marvin and Karl. You ladies should get your group together.” Fernando tells them. He gets up and slides the door closed behind him. He walks to Marvin and Karl who had stated on their snack meal which Ruth gave to them as part of the extras she had.
“Gentlemen, how are you this evening?” Fernando asks them.
“Great so far.” Marvin says.
“Good to hear.” Fernando replies. He adds, “Have you guys decided on which SUV can used for the kids to sleep in? The situation with Hondo is not resolving itself fast enough.”
“They can sleep in my camper with the girls. I’ll sleep in my SUV.” Marvin says to him.
“You sure, Marvin? I do not want to put you out.” Fernando tells him.
“I’ll be fine. The kids need a place to sleep; they can sleep with my cousins in the camper.” Marvin tells him.
“Then, Karl, Marvin, I will need those thick furniture blankets to pad the floor for them to sleep on.” Fernando tells them.
“No problem man.” Karl says before he begins to get his set of furniture blankets from his SUV. Marvin also gathers his blankets from his SUV. They then go to Marvin’s camper as to layer the blankets on the floor. La La and Li Li already know that they will have some young visitors tonight, as told to them by Marvin earlier in the day.
Minerva, along with her friends and the children gather by Marvin’s camper as Fernando, Karl and Marvin set it up for them. They step out and look at the group waiting outside.
“Not everybody is going to fit in her.” Fernando almost jokes at the group.
“We will be sleeping in the SUV?” Minerva asks.
“There has been a slight change. Marvin will be letting us use his camper, with his female cousins sleeping on the bed. That means this group will be sleeping on the floor but at least there is a bathroom inside and extra adult help if you need it.” Fernando explains.
“What about Marvin, where will he sleep?” Minerva asks.
“He will be sleeping in his SUV.” Fernando tells them.
“Well, in that light, thank you Mister Marvin for your sacrifice in helping us.” Minerva tells him.
The children also chime in, “Thank you Mister Marvin!”
“Heh… It is nothing. We all help each other out.” Marvin says to them.
“Also, Karl was going to give up his space as well but since it worked out, Karl will not need to give up his space but in the future if we need it, he will gladly give it.” Fernando explains.
“Then thank you too, Mister Karl.” Minerva says to him in.
The children also chime in, “Thank you Mister Karl!”
“Anytime. We all work together here.” Karl says to them.
“Now with that... How many of the youngest ones do we have and who is their group leader?” Fernando says to them.
“By little what do you mean?” Minerva asks.
“Your youngest kids. No more than 8 years old I would say.” Fernando says.
“Putting it that way, that is our biggest group with 11 children.” Minerva says.
“Then what it the smallest group?” Fernando asks.
“The older kids – 12 to 14 year olds, with only 6 in that group.” Minerva explains.
Fernando thinks, and eyes the kids by their size. Malnutrition has hit the little ones hard, making them smaller than they should be. In fact, all the children seem smaller than they all should be. But 11 little one can fit in.
“If we break them up into their initial group of an older kid leader with his pod, there will be less children to deal with.” Abby says to be heard.
“Yes, that that makes six pods for four campers. Two pods will need to be broken up and mixed with the other four to go into all tour campers.” Minerva says.
Fernando thinks, no way the pods are going to break the group evenly. He then says to the group, “OK, let me see the pods.”
The kids gather together in their groups, and as expected most of the group has six kids in it but one group has five. He then points to the oldest of the pod of five.
“You, who of the other pods can you trust and work with without problems?” Fernando points to the oldest of the five, who is a male canine Wessen of sorts.
The dog Wessen points to a female cat Wessen of about his age, “Her.”
Fernando looks at the two groups and then at the inside of Marvin’s camper. Marvin’s camper is larger than the Dub Box campers he has. He then says to the adults, “Who will take care of this group?”
Tracey-Ann volunteers herself for the group’s supervision.
“Alright.” Fernando begins, pointing at the two pod leaders, “You and you will be in this camper with your pods. Tracey will be your adult supervisor, and La La and Li Li are the adults of the Camper. They will show you how to use the bathroom. We set up the padding on the floor for you all to sleep on and have a clear path to get to the bathroom if needed. So get yourselves together and go inside. Set up your beds and be ready to sleep in 30 minutes.”
As they go inside to prepare their beds and go to sleep, Fernando takes the rest of the group to Ruth’s camper. Realizing that there are three campers left but four pods, he does the math in his head where one pod has to be broken into 3 groups to join the remaining pods to fit into the remaining campers. The remaining kids groups seem to understand this without needing to be told. He quickly goes inside and sets up the bed, floor padding and pops up the roof.
Without saying a word, Abby steps forward and takes a pod with her and a couple of the youngest kids from another pod to take them side the camper. From the group she manages to get most of the kids onto the bed except for the two oldest ones and herself. The door is closed as they prepare themselves for bed.
As Fernando sets up Joanne’s camper for the kids to sleep in, Miniya takes the pod with the older kids in it and takes two of the older kids from another pod to join hers. Like with Ruth’s camper, Fernando sets up the bed, floor padding and pops up the roof. Miniya takes the kids into the camper and has all but three to sleep on the bed. Including her, the rest will sleep on the floor on the padding.
The last group Fernando takes to his Dub Box camper. Like the others before, he goes inside and sets up the bed, floor padding and pop-up roof. This last group seems to be of middle aged kids from 8 to 10 years of age. Minerva tells them to go inside and wait for her as she spends a couple minutes outside with Fernando.
“I can say this a thousand times and it will never be enough, but thank you.” Minerva tells him.
“Thank me when all this is over. This is just temporary, so tomorrow things might be different. And the day after that will also be different. If anything, Ruth will be cooking and giving out breakfast from my camper, this camper, so you need to get this group up and out earlier than the others and the camper has to be clean on top of that.” Fernando explains to her.
“I’ll have all that taken cared of for you.” Minerva tells him.
“Then good night.” Fernando tells her.
“Wait, where are you going?” She asks.
“I have to set things up and get the night guards together for their night patrol.” He explains, throwing in, “But I’ll be around. These are my campers, it is not like I can get up and leave without you knowing.”
“Well... I would like to at least give you a good night kiss.” She tells him.
“Let’s not and say that we did. Look, we as the adults can not show weakness in front of the kids. That means no public displays of affection, because they will question it and demand why you as a adult can do it but they has a child cannot. They will also tease and question you about it to no end. So, not meaning to order you around, but go inside. We will deal with everything in the morning.” He tells her.
“OK then.” Minerva says, trying to look innocent. She then takes both his hands and pulls on them as she tiptoes herself up to plant her lips against his. The kiss lasts a few seconds but enough to get the “Oooo!” from the kids in the camper. She quickly separates from him and turns to the Dub Box Camper, seeing the kids at the windows and doorway. She yells at them, “You kids better get back into your beds right now!”
With that the faces disappears from windows and doorway and curtains are drawn shut.
“Well, I’ll be seeing you in the morning.” Minerva says.
“Yeah. I’ll be seeing you then.” Fernando tells her. He steps away from her, and towards his electric camper.
Minerva, not having a choice in anything else, starts walking towards the Dub Box camper’s doorway and enters it. The door closes but the light inside remains on. Fernando looks at the other campers. Marvin’s camper has gone dark, and Ruth’s camper has gone mostly dark, a couple of flashlights can be seen lighting up a tiny area. Joanne’s camper is also mostly all dark as well. Fernando’s camper is half dark for the moment and then goes mostly dark like the others.
Fernando goes to his camper and opens the sliding door slowly. He looks inside, finding Ichigo, Macey and Zoey in bed but awake. But Maggie was nowhere to be found.
“Ichigo, you could not find Maggie?” Fernando asks.
“I could not find her. I heard she left with Hondo.” Ichigo replies.
Fernando thinks for a moment. Then he nods, saying “OK. Go to sleep girls. I’ll go a partial night patrol and then I’ll come back to sleep. Good night, ladies.”
“Good night Fernando.” Ichigo replies.
“Good night daddy.” Macey throws in.
“Good night Uncle Fernando.” Zoey says last.
He slides the door closed as quietly as possible. He then walks to the front of his camper, taking out his Yaesu VX-2 out.
“Righteous Cowboy, this is the Medic, are you out there?” Fernando says on the radio as he presses the talk button. For the moment there was no answer. Fernando repeats himself, “Righteous Cowboy, this is the Medic, are you out there?”
“Medic, I have some information for you.” A voice replies belonging to Hondo.
“Then say it.” Fernando replies.
“That radio you gave me, I intercepted a conversation. It said somethin’ about sendin’ the cold ones to the check the camp.” Hondo replies.
“Alright. Let me ask... In your mind, can a Wessen be of lizard origin?” Fernando asks.
(Part 1 of 2)
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After Chaos (Read 187953 times)
