Making of the Momma - Freedom Tribe prequel

Denise leaned against him tiredly when he climbed back on, nodding into his back at his question. She'd grown quieter than usual as they reached the settlement, chewing on a fingernail. It was a nervous habit Seb would've seen only rarely before, when she was most worried, but ever since Alena, she'd ramped up the habit. Her cheek was peeling and almost healed now, and she was trying not to pick at it. But it was clear to see she was ill at ease.

They were going to stay. But it wasn't the most safe place to be. This is where people were taken from. This is why they kept moving. And money, and barter. They didn't have much to trade to stay here for too long. Would they find work? Could she handle working right now? When Alena was there, Denise always had a plan. She'd scavenge, trade, steal, do whatever she had to do to keep her little girl fed and warm. But now she felt alone, scared, and wholly at a loss. She snuggled in more into Seb's back, feeling safe there.
 
The convoy kicked up dust as it passed through the settlement, catching a few glances but nothing more. It wasn't uncommon for groups of their size to pass through town and people paid little attention to anyone but themselves. And yet still, the longer they stayed here, the more uneasy Sebastian would feel. No, he wasn't planning on staying here for a damn second longer than needed.

When they found a good place to set up camp and they'd finally settled down, Seb took a seat beside Denise and for a moment he listened to the others debating softly over their next goal while he dug some food from his pack. Jerky and a canteen of water he pushed into her hands, his silent look telling her to eat whether she wanted to or not. But after a few bites and some lazy chewing, he leaned close to Denise and spoke to her. "If we stop running, I have a place in mind. But the question is...what should we do with ourselves?" They could take up odd jobs. But that wasn't any different than what they'd been doing while constantly on the move. And somehow that felt unfulfilling. "We should do something worth while."
 
"You do? Have a place?" she asked in surprise, pulling apart a piece of jerky with her teeth. Even just something to chew other than her nails. The question was just as much of a mystery as before, though. "I don't know...I never thought about it..." She had never thought about anything further than keeping her baby alive and safe. "Just us, though?" she wondered.

One of the others in the group overheard their quiet conversation. "Are you...?" She suddenly stopped herself, but it was too late. Everyone else's attention was now focused on them. "Are you going to leave us?" she finished asking in a quiet voice. The others all stared at Seb and Denise, waiting for their answer.

Denise shrank a bit, ducking her head and focusing on her jerky. She didn't know what to answer.
 
Licking jerky salt from his lips, Sebastian was just about to answer Denise's first two questions when they were overheard. A sigh escaped him at the woman's words and for a moment Seb started down at the ground between his feet while he considered the most delicate way to explain things. "Why are we running?" he finally said and his voice sounded just as weary as it should have been for someone asking such a thing. "Because no one can be trusted. Everyone is dangerous and suspicious. But I've been with this group for two years now. There is trust. We're a family. So why run when we can build a home and rely on each other and never feel weary or lost again? The two of us... We want a home again. Don't any of you miss that?"

Not once did he lift his gaze. He was worried he'd find disagreement in someone's eyes and be unable to speak his thoughts to the end. But now that he was done, he looked each of them in the eye in turn. Most of them looked away. Seb couldn't say he was surprised though. He was asking too much from them. "I want to do something worth while with the years I have left," he muttered, lowering his gaze to the ground again.
 
Denise's eyes welled up with tears. "I wanted her to have a home. A safe place. She never knew what a home was. It's not fair. Why should they be the only ones comfortable enough to have a place to call their own? I'm just so tired of running..." she said, her voice watery. She hiccuped and wiped her eyes, curling up closer under Seb's arm for comfort.

The girl who'd overheard them stared at the fire. "I was barely a teen when the war started. Our town got contaminated in the first wave, but we stayed, trying to help. My folks sheltered those who had nowhere to run to, even though we had the money to get out. They would go to the next town with clean water and buy supplies and everything. When they eventually got sick and died from the contamination, I got out before the same thing happened to me. I never knew how safe my life had been until I left home..."

Denise sighed, slumping down until her head was on Seb's lap. He'd know that move by now. She was done talking and just wanted to escape into sleep. There was nowhere else for her to go to get away, so she just slept. The conversation could continue on without her. She barely registered the strip of meat falling from her loose grip as she let herself slip away.

One of the other males watched her doze off before speaking up. "Well, that was then. Things are different now. It's too dangerous to try and go back to how things were. You'll get swallowed up in a minute the moment you put roots down. I prefer the safety and freedom of moving, rather than backing myself into a trap. Look at these people here. Nothing but paranoia once you hole yourself up behind walls."
 
But it was the same on the road, Sebastian thought. He didn't voice is protest however. He'd been expecting this kind of reaction all along. If anything, it would be Denise who would regret breaking away from the group; she'd been with them longer.

Now they stood by themselves, watching the group packing up. A day had passed and try as they might, no one had been able to sway the duo from their decision. Some looked back, hesitant to leave, but Sebastian would give them a reassuring smile. He had a place in mind and it wasn't going to be some filthy settlement. Denise would come up with a goal for them, he was certain of it.

And then rather abruptly, one of them threw down his pack and sighed, hands on his hips as he stared at the ground. "Alright. I'm coming with you."

"Kyle..." Seb started to say, but the young man held up a hand and spoke over him.

"My reason is good enough for me, so count me in."

He was young indeed - about to shed his teen years - but like Seb, the war had forced him to toughen up far before his time. Now he was a strong lad, nineteen and almost as tall as Sebastian himself. And he was stubborn. Maybe even as much as Denise. It was high time Seb stopped treating Kyle like a child, but he couldn't help feeling a little unsure about this. Glancing sideways at Denise, he silently asked for her opinion.
 
When Kyle dropped his bag and made his statement, another one broke away from the group. It was Abby. She still felt bad for outing the pair to the rest of the group the way she did, but it wasn't why she was suddenly rushing to Kyle's side. She couldn't stop thinking about her parents, about home. She understood how Denise felt about missing home, and it made her feel homesick as well.

Denise had been wearily sitting on the trailer of her trike, watching them pack up with misty eyes, reliving memories. From escaping that initial camp, watching some friends fall by the wayside, and picking up new friends along the way. Now, it was her turn to be left behind. She was ready, but it was still sad. She didn't beg them to stay, not out loud anyway, but her heart longed to delay this departure. So when Kyle and Abby suddenly decided to stay with them, she couldn't stop the tears from flowing, even as she swiped at them, smiling shakily at them. She finally pushed herself to her feet and trudged over to Abby, hugging her tightly.

"Thank you..." she whispered.
 
Well... If Denise was going to allow it, then he wouldn't disagree. Besides, if Sebastian was perfectly honest with himself, the thought of just the two of them on their own was a little frightening. He'd lived that life for four years after the war and it had been, to say the least, trying. A sigh left his lips, but they were curved with a small smile regardless. "Alright," he said to Kyle, clasping his hand and bringing him in for a half hug.

Stepping back again, Sebastian moved toward Denise, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. "We need to gather a few more provisions soon, then we can head out." The rest of the group was just about ready to leave now anyway and it didn't look like anyone else was going to change their mind. Tucking his hands into his pockets, Seb bid them farewell with a sad sort of smile, wondering if this would be the last time they would see each other.
 
Denise looked at the rest of the group and forced herself to turn away as they drove off, burying her face in Seb's side. She nodded at his comment, but didn't say anything more, other than going into her pack for some tradeable items and currency. Paper money had long ceased to exist. The only currency anyone could depend on was precious metals. Everything else was barter.

Denise had a small pouch of silver and gold pieces of jewelry and even coins from various odd jobs, which she strung around her neck and tucked into her shirt. Then she carefully dug out some of Alena's old things. They were in good condition, and Alena didn't need them anymore. Someone else could use them. The boots and goggles, especially. She gently ran her fingers over the items, and hugged them to herself as she stood. The only other thing she carried with her was her gun.

Abby settled down to guard the camp, but she did have one question. "So, where will we go, Seb? You said you had a place..." She was also digging into her pack for some tradeables they could use.
 
"Yeah, it's a place we've already been to," Sebastian replied, glancing sideways at Abby when he spoke to her. Then he turned back to his backpack and finished gathering some items. "Better to just show you anyway. We'll camp here today and then leave at dusk."

In a place like this it wasn't a good idea leaving Abby by herself, no matter how tough she may be. That's why Seb asked Kyle to stay behind with her. Safer in pairs than by oneself - it was common sense. And while he would have rather all four of them go together, leaving the bikes unwatched was just asking for someone to steal them. Or at least parts off of them. Thieves these days could disassemble a vehicle in a matter of hours and take the most important parts in just minutes. People were good at stealing from pockets too. That's why he kept close to Denise and they always kept their "currency" close to their heart. Literally.

The narrow little streets of the trading district were packed, as always. People were sleeping on the streets, if they could even be called that, and there were countless venders set up beside the decaying and makeshift shops. Food was the number one goal today. Food and water. "Aside from the obvious, was there something else you wanted to get?" he asked Denise, leaning in to speak into her ear over the loud chatter of the crowd.
 
Denise held back a whimper as she hugged the small bundle of clothes to herself. She felt absolutely lost as to what she needed. She hadn't thought about herself in so long, she really had no idea what she needed.
'I need to get my mind back in the game, is what I need,' she chastised herself. She knew that pulling herself out of the grieving process was going to take time, but they didn't have the luxury of time. Being in a settlement always tried to lull you into a false sense of security, but the longer you stayed, the more of a target you became.

Denise closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath to refocus herself. She listened to the noise and movement of the street, leaning close to Seb. But in the darkness, she heard something that yanked her straight out of her own thoughts. Denise's head whipped around, trying to find the source.

"Is it her? No, it can't be her. It's not Alena. Alena's dead, Denise. But she's crying, I have to find her!" Denise was mumbling to herself, she knew. Seb would think she'd snapped again, but she didn't care. She knew she'd heard a little girl's voice. She broke away from him and ran towards the sound. Just off to their left was a tiny, narrow alley between two hastily made mud-brick buildings on the bend in the street. Peering around the corner, she could see that it opened up to a surprisingly wide space. Big enough for a truck. Someone else had known that, too, because there was just such a truck backed up in there from the other street. But Denise's eyes grew wide at what else she saw.

A group of men corralling people into the back, hands tied together, beaten and scared. Some looked like they'd paid dearly for trying to fight back; one woman in particular. She was laying, unmoving, on the ground, beaten until her head was crushed, blood and brain matter soaking into the dry dirt. A little girl huddled close to her, hands still bound, weeping.

Before Denise knew what she was doing, she'd dropped her bundle of Alena's clothes, and was creeping on her hands and knees towards the girl.
 
He couldn't hear her words but he could see those lips moving, eyes searching for something. She was acting like a crazy person again and he was instantly worried. He watched her face, catching that look of uncertainty and panic and knew what she was going to do just a second too late to stop her.

Off he ran after her but he was bigger than her and the crowd was so thick that he had trouble getting through. As Denise gained more distance from him, Sebastian grew steadily frustrated and began shoving people aside. They didn't matter anyway; only she did. But he dare not shout her name because even if she did stop, none of these people needed to know how to identify her. Secrecy was so important for survival.

Finally he made it to the alley and in his frustration, he turned the corner without thinking. He took one look at the scene and quickly ducked back behind the mudbrick wall, heart pounding in his chest. There were a lot of them - slavers. Maybe too many for him to handle, but if they had Denise... A crazy, reckless idea was forming in his head as he noticed movement to his left. And there she was, on hands and knees, barely visible in the shadows. But she was crawling the wrong way and it didn't take Seb long to realize she was moving with purpose.

Steely grays followed Denise's line of sight as he peered around the corner, settling on the slumped form of what he was certain was a corpse and a much smaller, trembling form beside it.

A kid... Of course it's a kid you're trying to save...

Darting quick and staying low, he moved forward through the shadows, drawing a blade from the holster on his belt. He crouched there against the wall, gaze flicking between Denise and the slavers who were pushing and shoving people into the back of the vehicle. Some of the captured were putting up a struggle, slowing the process down, which was favorable for Denise and that kid.

Every fibre in his being wanted to grab the woman by the ankles and drag her back to "safety" but...it was a kid. She was trying to save Alena, in a sense. And he was positively furious with her right now. So bloody mad at her, but now wasn't the time to vent it. Now was the time to stay calm and watch her back.
 
So close, so close, almost there...

Denise's eyes were darting carefully between the little girl and the action going on over at the truck. She was just within reach now. In one swift move she wrapped her arms around the girl, one hand over her mouth to keep her from screaming. She could feel the terrified squeak of fright against her fingers. The wide, tear-filled eyes turned on her, and Denise gave her a calm, encouraging smile, untangling one arm to put a finger to her lips. The little girl nodded slowly, and Denise felt her relax ever so slightly, sinking into her embrace.

Still keeping low, she bundled the tiny girl up and started inching back towards the way she came.

The men were almost done, and one of them started casting around, as if he were about to do a sweep for anyone he might have missed. Denise froze, sinking lower into the shadows, practically hiding the girl underneath her. What could she do? She was too far from the opening yet. She fingered her own gun in her holster, hoping she wouldn't be forced to use it. The man kicked dirt at the body, complaining to another about the mess, hesitant to go near the gore. The other growled back at him, and they got into a quick argument before the man turned back to his sweep of the alley. Denise had made a bit more progress, but now she stopped again.

Just then, a shout went up from the truck. One of the captured men in the truck had spotted Denise, and what she was trying to do, and he kicked at the man still at the truck guarding them, looking like he was trying to make a break for it. He was really just trying to create enough of a distraction for Denise to get the girl away. The second man scrambled back to the truck to help his partner. Just before they struck the bound man over the head and knocked him out, he and Denise caught each other's eyes for the briefest of moments.

Denise was about to turn and run when she bumped into Seb, and stifled a scream. Seeing it was him, she simply hurried back out of the alley with him, grabbing up the bundle she'd dropped and plunging back into the mob on the street, the little girl still in her arms.
 
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It was nerve-racking, watching her crawling closer to danger. His palms itched, legs tingling. He wanted so badly to spring into action, but his training had taught him well how to ignore that impulse and keep a damn level head. So all he could do was watch and wait. When the one slaver started to scan the area, his breathing shallowed, his heart racing with worry. Any second now, they'd be spotted - Denise and that kid. Any second now...

But help came from an unlikely place. And Seb was just close enough to make out the man's face before it was beaten upon. He committed that face to memory. He wouldn't easily forget it.

Denise reached him then, bumping into him in her blind scramble for safety. Their eyes met and when she realized who he was, she escaped the alley with him at her heels. The street crowd acted no different, oblivious to what was happening just feet away, but Seb wasn't going to take that chance. "Hand me everything you want to sell," he said in Denise's ear. "I'll get the supplies. You take her back to Kyle and Abby right away and stay there."

They were leaving today.
 
"I'll need a set of clothes for her," she said in a panic, her heart pounding and racing. She almost dropped everything more than once as she attempted to extract some clothes for the girl. She was shaking too hard. Squeezing her eyes shut, she pushed herself against him, trying to pull some of his calm. Denise breathed deeply, taking in his scent. After a few moments, she stood up again, finished pulling out the clothes and shoving the rest of the bundle at him. She checked the little girl's feet against the bottom of Alena's boots. They'd be big for her, but not too much. They would've been worth quite a bit in trade, but this little one needed them more if she was going to be travelling. Keeping the boots and the goggles as well, she hurried away, but slowed down once she got out of range of Seb. Running would only make her stand out more. She walked quickly, trying to look relaxed, but she was twitchy and on edge, constantly looking over her shoulder. Taking a moment to lean against a wall to breathe, Denise finally paused to take stock of her new charge.

The girl was snuggled into her, sucking her thumb. She was looking up at Denise with wide eyes, trusting her. Her hair was wild and tangled, and she flinched when Denise reached up to brush it out of her face. "Don't worry, sweetie. I won't hurt you. You're safe with us. We'll protect you. Let's get you back to camp..." A wave of peace washed over her. This was right. This felt right. She smiled encouragingly at the girl as she pushed off the wall and headed back to camp. She continued looking over her shoulder, but the fear and panic were gone now. Her vision was sharper, more acute. She made it back to camp and almost slid into the safe area between the bikes.

"Start packing up everything. As soon as Seb gets back, we're leaving," she ordered the shocked pair who were staring at her and the little girl. She pulled out the clothes and started helping the little girl change. She resisted at first, but Denise was able to convince her to take off her dirty, ripped, and shabby clothes into something warmer and more protective for travelling. Denise then stuffed the toes of the boots with some strips of cloth, and pushed them on the little girl's feet. She looked up to see Abby still staring at her, dumbfounded and not moving. "ABBY!" she yelled at her, her voice commanding and stronger than it had been in weeks. "Get moving, we've got to get moving the second Seb gets back with the supplies!"

Abby jumped, startled out of her amazement, and quickly started packing up the trailers and bikes. Denise bundled up the girl in blankets and put the goggles around her neck, placing her gently on the trike seat. "Just stay here, lovely," she cooed, reassuring the girl as she moved to pack up her own things. She felt a bit weak and tired from the extra exertion, but she steeled herself determinedly. She'd been tired before. Alena had depended on her then, this girl depended on her now. She finished packing up her stuff and then helped Kyle with Sebs, then settled down to wait, holding the girl in that comfortable old position in front of her on the trike. She felt like Momma again.
 
Sebastian couldn't blame her one bit for fumbling because his own hands were still shaking. And even though they were now on a time limit to get the hell out of there, he didn't dare try to rush Denise along, especially not when she leaned against him for support. Instantly those trembling hands steadied, arms wrapping around her and holding her close.

They both took a moment to breathe. He could feel her heart pounding away, following the same rhythm as his, and it was moments like these that this life felt so...real. This was reality. It was a life full of hard times and fear and relief when things turned out alright once in a while... Then Denise backed away again and handed him the bundle and he watched her move through the crowd until it swallowed her up.

God, he worried for her.

By the time he returned to their little camp, the bikes were ready and everything had been packed up. Kyle and Abby helped him load the supplies into the saddlebags on their bikes. He suited up for the ride, tugging on his jacket, goggles hanging around his neck with a handkerchief for some company. There was one last sweep of the camp with his steel-grey eyes, just to make sure. Then he looked at Kyle and Abby in turn, then Denise.

There was no going back now. He'd made a decision - they all had - and now they could only go forward with it. Tugging the goggles up over his eyes and the handkerchief over his mouth and nose, Sebastian teased the throttle on his bike, sounding the other three drivers to attention. They'd be heading back the way they'd come, to that old gas station they'd come across. It was the best choice for a permanent settlement, Seb figured. But they were going to take a roundabout way, just in case someone decided to follow them. Someone like those slavers. And if not this time around, then Seb knew that eventually they would be discovered and they would then have to deal with the slavers.
 
"She's asleep..."

Denise didn't look up when Seb came up behind her. She cradled the little girl's head in her lap, stroking her now clean hair. The terrified little thing had hardly spoken since they'd bundled her off the bike, washed her and fed her. She mostly cried for her mother, and had told Denise her name: Lizzie. When Denise explained to the girl that the girl's mother had given her life to save her, and had exchanged her own story, she'd told Lizzie that maybe, since she didn't have a little girl anymore, and Lizzie didn't have a mother, maybe they could be each others'. Lizzie cried herself to sleep then, without answering. But already, Denise felt her heart lifting. She couldn't save Alena, but she'd saved this girl. Saved her from the very thing she'd kept her own little angel from. Saved her from the thing Lizzie's mother had tried to save her from. She felt like a Momma again.

But still, Denise couldn't get the man's face, his eyes, out of her mind. He'd risked himself for her, for Lizzie. Was he the girl's father? Someone who knew her mother? Denise would never know. She didn't even know if the man was still alive. Had they left him in the same dirt-floored alley, with his own brains scattered on the ground? She couldn't let their lives go to waste. Their lives had to be worth more than what someone was willing to pay for them.

Hot tears fell from Denise's eyes as she sat there, petting the sleeping girl's head. She hated the slavers, careless traders of people. People taken, stolen from the lives they were honestly trying to rebuild. And there were so many who were taken. She had been one. Alena hadn't, though. She'd been born in the slave camp. Born to the Trade. They'd run, hidden for most of Alena's short life. But what had it accomplished? There was no chance to build a life if you ran from it. And hadn't they decided that they were finished running? Now was the time to fight the fear, to stand strong and build a life. But what kind of life could they build? No, what kind would they build?
 
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It'd taken a bit to really settle in, but Sebastian wasn't about to complain. Not when they had running water and the chance to bathe twice in one week. Outside, a dust storm was sweeping across the area and it was rather convenient for hiding any tracks they might have made. The employee lounge had been swept and scrubbed and he'd never realized that lemon scented cleaner could be so soothing.

This place already smelled like home. It was just a matter of time before it felt like home too.

Kyle had cooked them up some rice and there was jerky enough to go around, so when Sebastian approached Denise, he had two bowls of food and a bottle half full of what he was assuming was whiskey. Settling down in front of her, he placed her portion of dinner beside her and quietly started on his own. It was a few minutes before he let his spoon rest in the bowl, his gaze on Denise's tired face. "You should sleep soon too. I'll watch over her." He'd done the same for Alena. He would do the same for this little one. "Get your strength back up. We'll need it for scavenging in a few days."

Truth be told, he was tired as well. Denise's ordeal had taken a toll on him too. He'd watched her wither, terrified of losing the last important thing he had in his life. And Alena... Well she was never far from his mind either.
 
Denise nodded, blinking slowly. She was tired, without a doubt. It had been a long day, and Seb was right that she didn't have all of her strength back. She was still grieving for Alena, probably always would, and needed more recovery time. On the plus side, Lizzie was strong and healthy, so at least she didn't have to worry about that. She'd feel safe leaving the girl in Seb's care while she slept. She picked up her bowl and started to eat, a bit laboriously in her exhaustion.

"Thank you, Seb, for taking care of me. I know..." she swallowed hard. "I know it was hard on you, too. Having to...bury her..." Denise struggled to keep her voice from cracking, even as tears welled up again. "I know how much you loved her..." She reached over and squeezed his hand hard, trying to swallow down the lump in her throat so she could continue eating. She jerked her chin at the bottle. "You brought enough to share?" Her voice was thick, but hopeful and a bit wry. The corner of her mouth quirked just a bit.
 
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