Freedom's Tribe

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C

Cammeh

Guest
Original poster
The sun was beginning to set over the horizon, casting an orange glow over the quiet stretch of road that ran close to the natural rock formations. Nestled at the base of one of the largest rocks stood a rough-looking service station. It looked like it was functioning and open, but time and the elements had long removed the shine from it. But in this day and age, folks were much less concerned about how something looked. Well, mostly.

Out front, there are two gas pumps, a sprawling parking lot for long haulers, and a cluster of squat buildings jutting out from and built into the rock, known to regular travellers in the area as "Freedom Rock". There's a full-service garage, which can fix anything from 18-wheelers to motorbikes, and even has a machine shop to craft parts, an essential in this remote place. Then there's the store, where customers stop in to pay for their gas, replenish supplies, or enjoy a rare home-cooked meal at the lunch counter. Next to the store is the bathhouse and pool, where one can wash off the dust of the road and relax in a cool area to escape the punishing midday heat. On the other end of the station from the garage, built partly into the rock, is a motel with a dozen rooms where travelers could enjoy a clean and comfortable bed for a night or two.

Freedom Rock Stop is set squarely between two settlements that sprang up from the rubble of the War. Two settlements that had survived, at any rate. These days, it was safer to stay in groups. Shipments travelled in convoy, people lived in settlements that looked more like fortified cities of old than modern towns. Those who prefer to be loners don't survive very long. If you try to strike out on your own, you become prey for what has simply become known as the Trade, and those who deal in the Trade, the Traffickers. In the aftermath of War, when things become scarce, everything becomes a commodity. Including people. But in this harsh climate, there is another side to Freedom Rock Stop.

On the lee side of the Rock, facing the rising sun, there lays a world unseen by all but those who need to see it. Behind a small oil refinery which supplies gas and diesel for the pumps, there is a garage cut into the rock which leads to an underground bunker, the hideout of the group simply known as the Tribe. They call themselves Freedom's Tribe, a group made up mostly of those who were freed from, and now fight against, the Trade. The Tribe owns and runs the Stop, using it as a cover and a finance for their covert activities, which is mainly to sabotage the Traffickers, rescue and rehabilitate the Taken, those who were forcibly removed from their old lives and thrown into the Trade. Years ago, right after the War, they were mostly sold to work camps, the old money looking for cheap labour to get their businesses and factories jumpstarted again. But now, with more infrastructure in place, the major focus of the Trade has shifted from production to pleasure, and a large sex industry has blossomed. And while there is still a need for the Taken in factories and on farms, the young and the pretty are kept for much different, more depraved, work.

Now, a cloud of dust begins to rise from the desert, off the ribbon of asphalt that cuts like a scar through the desert, along the more natural tracks of dirt trails that criss-cross the barren plane of land, headed towards the one place 3,000 miles from anywhere. The tribe is returning home, their masks and helmets covering their faces to hide them from being recognized as the small co-op that mildly serves the wayfaring journeymen. On the backs of bikes, ATVs and trucks sit others, huddled together in fear, pain and sickness. A new batch of nameless victims of the Trade, who won't be nameless for much longer.

The convoy splits and skirts a wide berth around the Stop, approaching from several angles to create confused tracks in case they were followed. One by one they roll into the garage and begin unloading passengers, those who've stayed behind standing by to assist and welcome the newcomers, offering them blankets and hugs, leading them down to the safety of the bunkers, where a hot meal, a soothing shower, clothes, cots and medical attention were all waiting for them. Among those in the welcoming group is an older, dreadlocked black woman named Denise Chook, whom the Tribe affectionately called Momma. Momma immediately gravitates to the youngest or those who look the worst for wear, gently guiding them with a comforting hug and soft words.

Soon, everyone is settled down to eat in a comfortable room, a motley collection of couches, circles of soft armchairs and booths are interspersed amongst tables and chairs, enough space for the Tribe and their guests to all find a seat or a space to relax. There are not only the new arrivals, but those whom the Tribe are still caring for. Once they are well enough, those who wish to leave will be transported to one of the two closest settlements to either start a new life, or attempt to make their way back home. Those who have nowhere else to go or wish to stay are given a place in the Tribe.

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Momma had a bowl in her hand, eating while she circled the room, checking on the newcomers and encouraging them to eat, as well as taking count of the Tribe, most of whom she thought of as her children, to make sure everyone had made it home safe. This was a little ritual she had, because it was more than common that someone who left never made it back home. The raids were dangerous, the Traffickers ruthless. Everyone who went on a raid went with the knowledge that they themselves could be taken, or even killed. It was a risk they all understood and accepted.

Momma herself didn't go on raids much anymore, unless there was intelligence of a lot of children to rescue. Children were her big weakness, after she'd lost her own little girl so many years ago. The child had died of sickness while they were escaping the Trade. Nowadays, she mostly ran the Stop and nursed the newcomers back to health. She was a mother figure to most of the Tribe, being one of the oldest, and founding, members.

Finally finished her rounds, Momma sat down in an armchair with a sigh to finish her meal. Everyone had made it home safe this time, and she could finally relax for a few moments.
 
The hot, harsh desert wind whipped at bikers and ATVers like Sebastian, who was more than used to it by now, but still glad that he had his leather jacket and gloves and of course his face covered over. The hideout was within viewing distance and he signaled with a hand for the last two bikers to take up watch for unwanted guests.

The nighttime raid had gone down perfectly; it was rare that everyone escaped without injury but tonight had definitely been there night. The trucks were stuffed with rescued Taken, a few on the backs of ATVs and bikes. Seb's own bike held a young girl, who looked to be about thirteen at the most and was definitely not used to travelling by motorcycle. That much was evident from the way she clung to his back for fear of falling. Or maybe she was more afraid that if she let go, she would wake up and this rescue would be nothing more than a cruel dream.

As if to test her theory, Seb broke from the group as the others did the same in order to confuse anyone reading their tracks. He swerved hard, laying flat on the bike, chuckling when those frail arms tightened even more around his waist. He cranked the throttle and they burst forward at a new speed, flying across the desert floor, making a big circle and coming back around to the stop. He arrived first, slowing to a stop inside the garage, killing the engine. Gently, he pried the young girl's grip from his waist, offering his arm to help her dismount. By then, one of the trucks had arrived, a pickup, and Seb caught sight of Momma making her way over to the truck's bed packed with children.

"We got lucky," he voiced to one of the helpers, a man named Kyle who was currently living with a broken arm, though he had enough energy to at least help unload rescued and give them a warm welcome.

"She looks terrified," Kyle replied in his rough voice, scratching his bearded chin with his only working hand.

Seb turned his attention back down at the girl, who was nearly flush up against his side, watching her gaze dart from place to place as she shook like a cornered mouse. Smiling softly, Seb loosened the strap under his chin and slipped the helmet from his head, tugging down the handkerchief covering the whole lower half of his face and neck. "It's alright," he said, crouching to put his head at her level. "You're safe now. You won't be forced to do anything you don't want to." Though his six feet of height and serious expression could be very intimidating, he could also put on a smile that would make anyone feel like things were going to be just fine. A ghost of a smile flicked across the girl's face and Seb felt that was good enough for now. She'd warm up eventually. She just needed time. They all had.

"I'll leave her in your care," he said to Kyle, who nodded in response. Then he turned away to go find Momma. That woman was always on her feet, moving around the camp, tending to the children and anyone else who might have needed it. She truly was a mother to them all, even to Seb who wasn't that much younger than her. Eventually he found her collapsed in an armchair and he followed suit, taking up the seat across from her, dropping his helmet to the floor so he could tie back his hair in preparation to eat the bowl of hot oatmeal he'd picked up during his search. He was sweaty and covered in sand, though a mighty growl from his gut told him what was more important than a shower right now. His stomach was running on empty, though he supposed it was better his stomach than his bike's tank.

"Mission a success. We rescued the whole group this time," he muttered around a mouthful of food. Nothing hurt more than having to leave someone behind, either because the person was in a situation that made them impossible to rescue, or because there just wasn't enough room.
 
Reyanna was glad the mission had gone so successfully that no one had ended up with a single scratch! Her long black hair flew behind her as she rode her navy blue motorcycle. She kept in the middle of the group,since Sebastian usualky kept special eyes out for her, what with her having been through major hell with Luca in the past.

From age 16 to age 24, she'd been a slave, made only to screw every guy that bought her in the brothels, and was beaten relentlessly by Luca. Luca, in her life, was the reason she was so screwed up today. She'd been out innocently walking around, close to her home, when he'd snagged her, dosed her with chloroform, and thrown her into the back of a truck with other slaves. He was one of the worst traffickers she'd met in her life. She hoped she'd only meet him again with a gun to his head.~

Now she was free, and loved every minute of just being alive and in fresh air. She was beautiful, but this had resulted in lots of trauma for her while being captive in brothels. She was just thankfull she no longer had to live in those circumstances, and she knew the girl on Sebastian's bike would thrive without all that hell, too.

"Hey, Seb, I'm going to take a shower. You guys go ahead and eat." She smiled at Momma, before hurrying off to the showers. She was parsnikity about being clean. Probably because for years on end, she'd felt so dirty...~
 
"Everyone?" Momma said eagerly, a distracted smile coming to her face as she returned Reyanna's smile with a wave. She'd been in the game a long time, and this could only lead to one of two things for the next raid; either it would be a hell of a lot harder, or they would try to grab one of the tribe to try to force them into spilling the hideout location. No one had ever talked, but no one had ever come back from being grabbed during a raid.

"Someone's going to be mad..." she said thoughtfully, taking another bite of her stew. "I would've gone if I'd known there would be so many little ones," she went on, surveying the room. A large group of the children were crowded around a table, eating ravenously and talking just as boisterously. They didn't seem too much worse for wear. As a group, anyway. Who knew what would happen when they were alone. Well, it would all come out. "I'll be busy for a while yet. If there's no families in the group, there's going to be a lot of work getting them patched up and back home..."

As if to confirm her statement, a sudden yell went up from the children's table. One of them had just thrown up their dinner. "Probably ate too fast..." she muttered, shoveling down two more spoonfuls of stew before hurrying over to the table and scooping up the little boy, who was now crying. A few others were crying and scared now too. Momma threw some napkins over the mess, letting one of the tribe members who were working the kitchen tonight clean it up. She sat down and rocked the boy, gathering the others around her soothingly. Eventually she got up, still carrying him, and herded the rest off to the showers to get cleaned up and to get checked out in the infirmary. It was standard procedure that everybody gets checked by infirmary within the first few days of their stay.

"Come on, babies. We'll get you all clean, in some nice pajamas, and maybe some cookies and juice and a story before we tuck you in, hm? We'll have some friends make sure you're all healthy and not hurt..."

"You mean like a doctor?" an anxious girl piped up.

"Not as scary as a doctor. They're all our friends here, but they're good at fixing us up if we get hurt or sick," she explained with a reassuring smile.

"My tummy hurts..." whined the boy in her arms.

"I know, sweetie. But you'll be okay. Nobody's going to hurt you anymore..." she soothed, rubbing his back.
 
Really, never in one place for too long...

Seb chuckled as he followed Momma with his gaze, admiring her knack for dealing with children no matter the circumstance. But it wasn't long before his thoughts wandered to Reyanna, as they often did when he allowed himself time to think about the finer things in life. And Rey? Well, she was definitely one of them.

Looking back on it now, it was funny to Sebastian how he'd first met the girl. A night raid a couple years ago, though that memory was still fresh in his mind. He just couldn't forget the wild look in that girl's eyes the first time they'd come face to face. If looks could kill, he would have been dead that very moment, even if her knife had horribly missed the intended target! And maybe it was his past creeping up on him again, but seeing a woman like her in distress, so battered and beaten down to the point that she was a shell of a person... That was probably his only weakness. He'd hesitated to take her under his wing, but when she kept following him around like a lost puppy, he'd no longer had a say in the matter. Somehow he'd gone from stranger to protector in the course of two weeks and it'd been that way between them ever since.

Well... That wasn't entirely accurate. He would be lying if he said he wasn't even a little bit possessive of her nowadays.

Finishing up his oatmeal, he took his dish back to the kitchen with a few kind words of gratitude for the tip, then decided he could use a shower. The war had left a lot of the land in ruin, nothing but desert and wind storms for miles at a time, so the road and the riders on it were always dusty and dirty. A quick stop at his room to grab a few essentials and Seb found himself in the steamy communal shower room located deep in the hideout. "Still here, Rey?" he called out to the thickest area of steam as he crossed his arms over his chest and tugged his shirt over his head, dumping a good amount of sand on the floor in the process.

He wasn't quite sure how he'd managed to collect that much.
 
Reyanna took a longer shower than she'd planned on, but she really needed it. She used lots of shampoo on her hair, making sure it was clean right down to her scalp, and stood under the hot water spray, letting it rinse the suds out. While washing, she checked herself for any injuries. Aside from bruises and one or two minor scratches, she didn't see anything life threatening or even serious. She'd gotten lucky but that was probably because Sebastian was just so protective. He was a good leader, and she felt sorry for him that he'd put up with her all this time.

It made her sad sometimes, knowing she was so messed up socially, even now, that she'd had to learn almost how to form conversation skills with other tribe members. That had taken months! Honestly, if it hadn't been for Sebastian prodding her along, she probably would be staring at walls or ceilings, and zoning out a lot worse than she did on occasion. Nightmares though, those were something that she couldn't avoid. No matter how far along she'd come from being a traumatized, shell of a person.

As she washed thoroughly with soap, she remembered their recent mission. How she got through any of them without being captured, was still a mystery. Yes, Sebastian was protective, and she did keep aware of her surroundings, but she tended to be a bit reckless sometimes. This would inevitably lead to trouble later, but she couldn't help the feelings of absolute hatred every time she saw a trafficker herding poor girls and young children off to brothels or other worse places. She just wanted them all dead.


Finally, after she rinsed off all the soap, and shampoo, she felt much better, and able to help out. She gave her curvy, yet slender, 5'3 figure a disdainful look in the mirror after stepping out and dressing in clean clothes, since she felt ugly because of all the scars her body still carried. Though she was still beautiful, she felt ugly. She was jolted out of her self-loathing thoughts by the sound of Sebastian's voice, asking if she was still there. "I just got done showering Seb!" She called back, forcing a smile in her voice as she went out to the hall to meet him.

She also wanted to go help Momma with the children, but Sebastian would always be first in her mind.~
 
Momma made it to the showers after Seb, with the children still in tow. She'd decided to stop off at the medic first, since they'd asked so many questions about the 'doctors'. The little vomiter, whose name she now knew as Jakey, was doing fine after some antacid tablets and a reminder not to eat so fast. A few had to return after for dressings and cleanings of some infected cuts, but overall they were in pretty good shape. She hoped there were a couple members in the shower to help. Then they could shower boys and girls at the same time. The children were all pretty tired, and the sooner they were all showered and dressed for bed, the better. She preferred to shower the boys and girls separately, but she didn't mind helping clean the boys, up to a certain age. This time around, though, none of the children in her little entourage were any older than eight or so. The older ones had remained behind in the dining room and could shower on their own.

Spotting Seb and Reyanna as she entered, Momma nodded to herself in satisfaction. "You two care to help with shower detail tonight?" she asked with a winning smile. She knew they would, but a smile always helped to sweeten the request.
 
Sebastian had just untangled the elastic from his hair when he heard Rey reply to him. She was much closer than he'd thought, though it really was difficult to see in the changing portion of the showers, thanks to the steam. Taking a few steps in the direction Rey's voice had originated, she began to take shape in the mist. "Ah, there you are. Too bad I missed my chance," he joked, turning back around to finish undressing. However, he didn't get more than two steps before Momma had appeared with the group of youngest children, requesting his and Rey's help. Of course he agreed and had all the boys line up like little soldiers.

"Alright, gentlemen," he said with the air of a drill sergent. Of course this stirred up giggles and he struggled to keep a straight face. "The mission is a tough one, but I have faith in each and every one of you. You have exactly two minutes to be in those showers where you will receive further instruction, is that clear?"

A few of the older boys gave a timid "Sir, yes sir!" to which Seb replied, "I can't hear you!" This time they all replied with vigor, which made him smile and nod with approval. He brought his right arm up and gave a salute, amused to see the young boys trying very hard to mimic him. "Alright, get goin'," he chuckled and continued to undress.

The army game continued, and Seb found it an effective way to make an otherwise troublesome task quite entertaining. Before long, he had the small group of boys squeaky clean, just in time for two Tribe members to arrive with clean clothes for both the girls and boys. The older boys had no trouble dressing, though a few of the much younger ones needed Seb's assistance. "Wait, wait! Your head won't fit through the sleeve!" he laughed as he struggled with a squirmy, giggling three-year-old.

Prior to the Tribe, Sebastian hadn't cared much for children, he was pretty impartial about the whole thing. But after seeing so many slaughtered during the war, and after joining the Tribe and taking care of quite a few of them, he'd really opened his heart up to them. Sure, they could be a handful, but that didn't stop him from considering having his own kids one day... Girlish laughter from somewhere across the room squeezed through the steam and Seb had to chuckle. "Sounds like Rey's got it tougher this time 'round," he muttered, finally managing to get the three-year-old's shirt on properly.

"Victory!" he cheered, standing back to his full height and stretching. His group was all clean and dressed, himself wearing a fresh and clean pair of boxers and jeans. Just that much felt one hundred times better than twenty minutes prior. He dried his hair a little more with his towel, then tugged on a plain white muscle shirt, covering over the tattoos on his chest and back. His inked skin had terrified a child or two at first, and he was pretty sure it was because traffickers inked themselves all the time. But after explaining what his tattoos meant, the kids seemed more fascinated than scared by them.

Scooping up the squirmy three-year-old and setting the boy on his hip, Sebastian grabbed his bag of clothes and toiletries. "All done here, Momma. Where to next?"
 
Ralph's APC, one of the larger vehicles that they ever had, including the tank they had before it broke down completely and totally, had been carrying a good bit of the people. Thankfully he was the driver and didn't have to deal with all of it, especially since he had no idea how to console them. He would juse leave that to Momma.

Most of the people that left his vehicle were families, not exactly complete ones but had enough that they weren't alone. His eyes settled on one of his passengers, a girl about his age who was alone.

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The door to the Stop opened and a girl about the age of nineteen stormed in, aparently quite ticked off. Ralph followed shortly after, a red mark on his face about as telling as to what happened as the look on his face, the 'What did I do wrong' look.

[[Sorry it's crap.]]
 
"I don't mind," She said to Momma, before leading a handful of small girls to the showers. She grinned at Sebastian, and helped the youngest wash up, but at the same time, they managed to sneak attack her and get her hair soaking wet! "Argh!" She yelled only half- irritated. Finally, showers and drying off and dressing over, she ran around chasing the kids a bit, until they stood calm as could be next to Sebastian and Momma! She just grinned at their antics, arms folded over her chest, mock-sterness in her eyes.

"Anything else we can do, Momma?" She asked, handing one of the giggling rugrats to Sebastian. She was glad they were all light hearted. It helped her forget a lot of what had been on her mind.~
 
"A few of them need to head back to medical to get some infected cuts treated," Momma explained, holding one of the youngest girls who was starting to fall asleep on her shoulder, "but the rest of these guys are pretty ready for bed, and I promised juice and cookies."

Those who had to go back to medical were easy to identify, as their faces looked so sad! They didn't want to miss out on the treat. Mama easily calmed that fear, though.

"Why don't you two take the kids who need to to medical, and pick up their snack from the kitchen on the way. I think they'll need the distraction while they're getting patched up. I'll get the rest settled in the nursery," she decided, sorting out the group between those who were headed for treatment, and those headed for bed.

The nursery was the sleeping and playroom set up especially for the children who came through. Momma had taken the time and effort to decorate and furnish it so it was welcoming and comfortable for them. It even had carpet on the floor, which was very hard to come by these days! At night, the cots were put out for them to sleep on, but during the day they were packed away, and it became a playroom to entertain them underground. They had to be careful letting the children outside; you never knew who could be out looking for them to steal them away again. The Tribe fiercely guarded their young charges.

"Oh, one more thing," Momma called back as an afterthought as she turned to go. "Have either of you seen Ralph? I know he came back, but I haven't seen him all evening..." Ralph was one of the Tribe members that had practically grown up in the hideout after being rescued, and he was one of her 'children', as she called those like him. She always looked out for him and reached out to him, knowing his social skills were really lacking and he tended to stay off by himself.
 
Thankfully there weren't too many children that badly injured that they needed a second treatment. Most of them were just starved and thin; nothing a few weeks of proper meals wouldn't fix. Seb took charge of the girl handed to him by Reyanna, cuddling the tiny thing close as she grew sleepy and less resistant to being held. Two boys followed closely behind him as the whole group made their way to the kitchen. "Which do you want?" he asked the little girl and when she pointed out her choice, he smiled and plucked the juice and cookies from the selection. Then he gathered back the two boys that needed to make a stop at the infirmary and gestured at Reyanna with his head to signal he was ready to go.

"Ralph?" he laughed, turning back to Momma for a moment. "I haven't seen him, but he's probably off saying the wrong thing to the wrong girl...again," he snickered, then turned once more to part ways with their leader. To the infirmary they went, and there was a lot of squirming and a bit of crying, but eventually all of the kids were patched up and returned to Momma safe and sound.

Leaving the rest up to Momma, Sebastian quietly left the nursery and headed for the den. It was a place for the adults to relax in comfy chairs and couches. There was a pool table, an old jukebox, and even a bit of a bar. It was here that Seb settled in his favorite chair, whiskey on the rocks in hand, smiling softly as he listened to a friendly debate a few feet away. He took a sip of his drink and rested the glass and his hand on the arm of the chair, letting his head roll against the high back of the seat, his eyes slipping shut. He wasn't sleeping, just finally finding a bit of peace after a really tough night. Soon he'd go to bed though and be up a little past noon to help in the garage.
 
Once the children had all been patched up and put to bed, Reyanna knew exactly who she wanted to pester. Sebastian of course! She hid a grin as she wandered back to the den, knowing that's where he liked to relax the most. It had been a really long day, so relaxing before sleep sounded good to her as well.

Stifling a yawn, Reyanna wandered over to where Sebastian was sitting on his armchair, and perched right on the right-side arm rest! Daringly, she got another glass, pouring half of Sebastian's amount in his cup, to her own. She wanted only to loosen up a bit, not get drunk! She gently poked him in the shoulder before finding an arm chair directly across from his. If he'd wake up, they'd talk. If not, she'd finish her drink and go pass out.
 
Momma spent some time reading to the children, selecting books from a small library against the wall. A few of the older children sat around her feet while others lounged in their cots, whispering quietly as the younger ones fell asleep. Once she'd finished the books in her lap, she quietly shooed the rest to bed and turned down the lights for the night, leaving some low light night lamps on. Most of the children were afraid of the dark. One of the babies, a tiny three year old orphan, fussed and whimpered quietly. Without a word, Momma picked her up and rocked her gently, singing quietly to her until she settled back into a quiet sleep.

Finally finished putting the children to bed, Momma left the children in the care of the oldest children who were still awake. They knew to come find her if there was an emergency. Sighing, she rubbed her face as she headed for the den herself, but not to stay. She grabbed a few bottles of beer from behind the bar and went searching for Ralph. Where could he be? She decided to check the intake garage first. She hoped he was there, actually. They could sit outside and talk in the fresh air. Unlike the raiding party, she'd been underground all day.

Reaching the top of the ramp, she looked around between the vehicles, looking for his personal baby. If he was anywhere up here, it would be there.

"Ralphie, you up here sweetie?" she called, fishing her keychain out of her pocket and popping the top off one of the bottles with a key. She pocketed the keychain and the top before taking a deep swig with a sigh. Nothing like a beer to relax with at the end of a long day.
 
"Hey Momma..." Sure enough, Ralph's voice sounded from under his APC. No doubt the kid at heart was habitually taking apart his APC and rebuilding it, what he usually did when he felt bad about something. Given that he was under the vehicle, he had started early.

There was a few sounds and grunts before Ralph's head popped out from under the vehicle and he looked a bit sad. "Hi..."
 
Momma sat herself down on the floor next to him and popped open another bottle, pocketing the cap again and setting it next to him. She then took another swig of her own bottle as she leaned against the vehicle.

"What's got you so down tonight? I heard the raid went excellent, I figured you most of all would be happy to have a full cargo coming back..." she said conversationally.

They often had talks like this, sharing a couple of beers off by themselves somewhere when one of them was feeling down. It was usually Ralph who was having difficulties, but every so often Momma was the one who needed cheering up, usually after they'd lost some children or members during a raid. It was a time for relaxing and unwinding, getting out all the emotions they usually had to keep bottled up during the day to get through their duties. Tonight in particular, with the huge influx of children, Momma felt a bit more tired than usual. They would have to think about moving some of the children to the settlements soon; either to the orphanages they trusted, or towards home.
 
"That's called stealing," Sebastian muttered once his glass was back in his hand and Rey had taken her own seat, though his eyes remained closed. "In the settlements they'd cut your hand off for that, little girl," he teased with a grin. He opened his eyes after a few seconds and rolled his head forward a little to properly look at Rey sitting across from him. "Put it back." He lifted his glass, now with only half the alcohol it had originally held, and wiggled it at the woman, making the ice clank against the sides.

Of course he was playing around, as he and Reyanna often did. Anyone else in the Tribe would claim that girl was a bit distant and anyone who had been around long enough knew what she had been like when she'd first arrived. And yet she acted like a normal, unscathed woman around Seb. They were almost like brother and sister now, despite his hesitance to even get involved with her after their first meeting.
 
A grin appeared on Reyanna's face as Sebastian said that she was stealing from him. She sauntered over to the bar, perched on a stool, and refilled her own glass, asking very politely for a bottle of whiskey. In one blink of Seb's eyes, she'd managed to pay the bar tender, and at the same time, down -four- glasses of whiskey!

She wasn't drunk -yet- she could hold liquer surprisingly well for someone her size and height. But she liked alchohol. It was the perfect drink to her, and it helped her unwind. But if she was already looking for trouble, well, alchohol often lead right to it! She downed another glass, and was thinking about going to bed...

Hell with sleep. She thought, disliking the idea of going right into nightmare mode. Maybe she'd drink enough so she wouldn't have any dreams, for once. But she also loved provoking Sebastian, so she crumpled up a napkin, and tossed it perfectly in his drink! Hah, that should get him fairly riled!
 
Just where the heck did she think she was going? "Hey!" Sebastian frowned when Reyanna disobeyed him, ignoring his glass and going to fill her own...several times. He rolled his eyes and shifted in the chair to watch her closely. "You damn lush," he snickered, sticking his tongue out at her, grinning from ear to ear.

That grin faded just a little though when he suddenly found a napkin plopping into his drink. "Rey!" he pouted, helpless as he watched the napkin soak up his drink and spread out across the ice. "Oh that is it, you little brat!" Getting to his feet he approached her at the bar, discarding his glass on the counter and swiping the bottle from her hands. "You're cut off."
 
Ralph took the offered bottle and popped the cap using the wrench he had been using to take his APC apart and give it some love. He then drank it in the way that was strictly his own, simply because anyone else would have choked doing it. With him being only half way out from under the APC, he turned his head, put the mouth of the beer bottle to his and then righted his head, swallowing the brown liquid that he thought was bitter but usually made him feel better. He was practicly chugging it before he turned his head enough to remove the bottle and place it so that it wouldn't fall. It was then that he answered Momma.

"I said the wrong thing to a girl again Momma." Ralph sighed. Girl trouble was very very common with Ralph and the kid at heart just seemed to rub the girls he was interested in the wrong way. Poor Ralphie. They didn't seem to understand him, not one bit.
 
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