Black James(!)
Location: Building 7 (Rec Center)
It was a rare thing for James to be in a room and
not be the loud and bombastic center of attention. But this was most definitely not his moment in the sun. Oh no, James was a mere bit player in the great orchestra of Newnan on that evening. The happy couple, Jack and Tatiana, took front row and center in the hearts and thoughts of the community, and rightfully so. There was no sliver of possibility that James had ever imagined himself helping out with a bonafide wedding reception, bu he was sure glad that he had the honor of doing just that.
And of course, there was the coming of another highly unexpected occurrence - Thana Martin. It was pure joy seeing her again, but he could not help but notice a hair of standoffishness. Well, time and the experiences that come along with it have ways of changing people, probably himself included. Again, something bigger and more important than himself today. It seemed like James was marginalized as the handler of yummy foodstuffs, a fate which was just fine with him that evening.
Of course, he needed to eat, too. A number of expert strokes of his knife and serving fork, and James had removed enough sliced and chopped pork to keep the line moving briskly for quite some time. He then located a plate, moved to the other side of the tables, and saw to loading himself down like a death row inmate's last meal setup. Oh, he was going to give the mandatory congratulations to the happy couple, but in the meantime, James was going to scarf down the fruits of his labor. And the vegetables of his labor. And a whole lot of the meats of his labor, too. Yes sir, the indomitable blackneck was going to feast.
James did take some note in two very interesting happenings of the last few minutes, though. Ray's tumble onto the floor, which he viewed with some regret.
"Naw, baby. That's good food they's spillin'...." But this was voiced only after he was sure that the pedally challenged survivor was otherwise okay. The next one was the quiet talk that Ash had with Bryn, followed by her exit. There might be something there. But now, there was a party. And Bryn had the tendency to go off on her own a lot, anyway. Maybe it was nothing.
Plate and foamy glass in hand, and wearing that godawful black-and-camo formal suit (and don't forget cowboy hat) James made his way over to a table occupied by Miss Sally, Lyon, and Sana.
"Hey hey, y'all mind if I rest my plate here and my ass in front of it? Fella's gotta eat, might as well do it with folks."
Location: Building 7 (Rec Center) -> Building A (Ash's House)
Thana was grateful that Ash had picked up on her little throat clearing, she didn't want to be there much longer. The day had been eventful enough for her without the wedding. It wasn't that she was the type to not like to be around people but for today she was approaching her maximum. She walked with him over towards the buffet and was glad to finally be able to get food but it seemed that was going to have to wait again. Someone came over and Thana stood there, waiting. Seeing Ash's face drop she wondered what was going on and as he excused himself she gave a light nod of understanding.
Clasping her hands in front of her she watched him as he moved off to speak with someone and continued to watch the scene. It was quick and he was back over to her within a few moments. His face seemed to twist and he looked to have mumbled something to himself as he came back over. She wasn't sure what was going on as her eyes stayed on Ash and not Bryn. That was until he stated his heart was no longer in being there. Her eyes glanced over towards Bryn and she watched as the glass was removed from her sleeve before she was escorted out. That explained it.
"Seems like a good time to go," she said in a quite understanding voice. It didn't feel like things would seem too terribly off if they left. Others were leaving as well, seemed the door was revolving for the reception. Probably for the best. Taking one of the plates she slipped her free arm through his and gestured with her head towards the door.
"Ready when you are." She hadn't been expecting to leave this early in the evening but might as well. She didn't know these people, other than James to a certain extent, and it had been a long day. A quiet meal without being introduced to even more people was a good thing in her mind.
The hollow, wooden noise of an artificial limb forcibly losing traction with the floor sounded from nearby, followed by the meaty crumpling sound of a body hitting the floor. Ash's rage-filled internal monologue had paused for a moment while Thana was speaking to him, but now it was fully (if temporarily) waylaid by a mixture of concern for the fallen man and the pleas of his inner twelve-year-old trying to push a snicker past his outer emotional defenses. It was a difficult emotion to describe. Luckily, he didn't have to. Of all people,
Ryan offered to help out. After he gave Ray a bit of hassle for his trouble, but still, he offered. The sound caused Thana to look over towards Ray but her face remained stoic as she watched the scene unfold. Her eyes following Ryan as he offered to help after a little heckling.
Ash had no desire to draw more attention to the situation, and so after a couple seconds' view to make sure Ray was more or less alright, he locked eyes with Thana and responded,
"Ready as I'm going to be." They had made a quick appearance, given over wedding gifts, and made a few quick introductions before more official business pulled Ash back to the realities of their situation. It was an otherwise satisfactory evening. He would be leaning hard on the community come tomorrow, but for the remainder of this day, he could share a quiet and well prepared meal with a new acquaintance, the rumors for which he would have to hear about for a while yet.
Again arm-in-arm with his Plus One, Ash started toward the front doors. Stepping outside of the doors, Thana glanced over her shoulder and watched the door shut fully before she faced forward again. It was about another two steps before her lips split and she cackled with laughter. Apparently she had found the scene hilarious but managed to hold it in just long enough to get out of eye and ear shot of those inside. People were coming and going but she didn't care at this point if anyone saw her laughter. She could be laughing at anything at this point. Ray falling, a silly thought that just went through her mind, something Ash whispered to her for all anyone knew.
Her eyes watering a bit as she tried to control the rolling laughter and managed to suppress it into a more manageable set of giggles and chuckles.
"Sorry Captain, if I held that in any longer my teeth would have exploded," she said letting out a chortling sigh as she spoke.
A smile cracked Ash's face that he wasn't too horribly proud of. Despite the seriousness of his own situation, his voice hinted at restrained humor.
"Ma'am, please. It's impolite to laugh at cripples." It seemed the appropriate response at the time, if ever so slightly out of character for him.
"Okay, I'm glad I'm not the only one. Still feel like a tool for laughing about it, though." Spontaneous giggling, whatever motivated it, was a rare thing anymore. Sadly, Ash could not participate in it for very log before the weight of his planned re-assertion weighed upon him.
"I don't but then again I always did find humor in the weirdest of places," Thana said trying to stifle her giggles as they continued towards Ash's home. Cocking a brow slightly as his demeanor started to change to the more mundane again. Oh well at least he had cracked a bit of a joke.
"I'm sorry. I'm not really in a joking mood tonight. If it's all right with you, I'd rather get back and have a meal in front of a fireplace." "Sounds like a plan," she said as she let the humor of the situation slip away as quickly as Ray had landed on his rear-end. Stepping up to his front door she stepped aside so he could unlock it and looked him over. He seemed to want to enjoy himself but kept reigning it back, made her wonder just what was going on. Though she figured it would be best not to ask right then.
The Captain wasted no time, setting his plate down upon the porch furniture and clicking open the door to his home. He motioned for his guest to enter, reclaimed his plate, and followed her in. Thana stepped in and out of the way, glancing around the home before looking over towards Ash. Locking the door back from the interior of his house was a much easier concern with full hands; he merely nudged the latch over until the hollow sound of the bolt's lateral movement found his ears and the latch met with solid resistance. He strode purposefully through the foyer and took a right, finding himself in one of the historic house's sitting rooms, in which lay a vintage furnishings including a couch, two armchairs, and most importantly, a large, framed fireplace.
The lowest of glows was visible from the bed of the fireplace, embers of an ignition past. It was safely contained inside of its iron grate and stone hearth. Ash set his covered plate and flask of clearish liquid upon the nearby coffee table, and moved to stoke the almost non-existent glow into a proper blaze. It was very dim in that room; perhaps it was why he didn't see the movement until it was too late. An unnamed entity opened its reflective, feline eyes and locked Ash into a stare from atop the mantle, just a couple of feet from his face. It blinked once, slowly, and leapt from its resting place to slink elsewhere in the room, somewhere in the pitch gloom the evening provided. Ash was startled.
"Jesus! Schrodinger!" he called in his momentary shock.
Peeking her head into the room before fully stepping in Thana gave a perplexed look before spotting the orange tabby. Smirking she shook her head a bit before glancing in Ash's direction. Ash sighed with light irritation, and in a softer voice said,
"Please have a seat, ma'am. I'll have some light in a couple minutes. Oh, go ahead and start without me. You must be hungry." Setting her plate down Thana nodded. Yet instead of sitting down she righted herself as she pulled her gun from the coat pocket and set it on the table and then removing the coat itself.
"I am but b'fore I eat, I have a question. Where am I bunkin' this evenin?" "Fair question." remarked Ash, pulling a few logs from a metal compartment next to the fireplace. He began stacking them within the hearth as he continued,
"I have three ideas for that. James lives by himself in another historic building just around the block. There's a spare room there you can use. Same applies here - I generally quarter in the garret upstairs. There's another room across from it, used to be a study. You're welcome to it for the time being. If the idea seems a little inappropriate, you can bunk with Miss Sally. I understand she's an excellent hostess, and I'm sure she has room." Ash stuffed a handful of tinder underneath the logs and blew gently upon it. A small flame coaxed itself awake, hopefully to catch the larger pieces above. He looked almost proud of himself, a rather primal "I Have Made Fire" expression that quickly faded.
"James and Sally are still at the party, I think. I can send word to them quietly if you make a decision that way." Thana thought for a moment as she drummed her fingers against her hip and scrunched her lips to the side. After a few moments of contemplation and weighing out her options she turned back towards her host.
"Captain, permission to speak freely?" It was rarely a pleasant subject that required permission to speak freely. Still, Ash found the formality novel and respectful. That and immediate curiosity got the better of him. With solid voice he responded,
"Granted." "To be frank sir, the last thing I want to do is bunk up with James. Hits a tad to close to home currently and I don't want to deal with questions. As far as Miss Sally goes, she seems nice enough but a bit of a plotter. After the look she gave the two of us this evenin' when she found out I was yer plus one, well that told me more than I needed to know. So if you don't mind, I will reside here this evenin'. Yer the only one that seems to look at me and not be seein' someone else." Her voice was rather matter-of-fact as she spoke, and slipped into droll almost; as if she was reading from a drilling manual.
Then her tone took a softer tune as she added a bit more to what she had already said.
"And Captain, you ain't lookin' like you need to be left alone with a bottle this evenin'." "Don't you worry about me, ma'am. I'll be just fine. Point of fact, I have big plans coming up for this place that will require me to be in good condition and even spirits. You're welcome to join me with that bottle, though." The fire leapt to a respectable level of illumination and warmth as the larger pieces of split log slowly began to ignite within the fireplace. Satisfied, he moved to the couch and, like his guest, divested himself of his weapons and radio upon the coffee table. Settling down in front of his plate, he looked to Thana, saying,
"But I would appreciate company, if you're willing. Eat up. I'll take care of your room upstairs after we're done here." "In that case sir, I am going to get out of this getup' and get comfortable, heels and dresses aren't exactly my thing if I am not standing at attention," she said as she looked around.
"Go ahead and start, I'll be right back," she added as she stepped out of the room and headed back to where she had changed earlier. If she was going to relax and enjoy the meal she figured she might as well stop being the woman in the red dress.
"That's a good idea..." Ash thought aloud absently. He hadn't even given thought to changing back into his more comfortable, everyday attire. He looked down at his very fine suit, which admittedly looked nice on him, and shook his head. Even if Ash ever was that guy before, he most assuredly wasn't the suit & tie type anymore. Ash removed his coat and tie, carefully folding them over an arm in as he rose to go change, himself. His regular clothing should still be neatly folded in the hallway bathroom, as well as the hanger and garment bag for his suit.
From the newly lit corner of the room, Schrodinger lifted his head from his position of repose and looked at Ash. If he didn't know any better, Ash would have sworn that the cat carried a smug, accusatory expression. He continued looking quietly at the Captain.
"Don't you start, Schrodinger..." Ash warned. The cat yawned and lay its head back down, eyes narrowing in sleepy contentment. Ash shook his head and walked down to the bathroom, intentionally stepping heavily to announce his presence for his guest. If he was lucky and very quick, he would be back in the sitting room about the same time as Thana. The race was on.
As hungry as Thana was she wasn't in a rush. Stepping over to her clothing she looked at it and then turned around, looking for the bag of things that Miss Sally had handed her earlier. She had rummaged through it briefly but never taken a good look at what was inside. The day was wrapping up, sun was starting to set, and it seemed she would be bunking down for the evening. Flipping over the over flap of the bag she looked inside and jostled things around a bit. Inside was a couple of changes of clean clothing and something she hadn't quite expected.
Shrugging she got to changing, carefully hanging the dress back up in the garment bag and laying it over the arm of a chair. This day had turned out to be interesting to say the least. She still wasn't sure she would stay come morning. The place was nice enough and well put together but it had problems. Granted everywhere did, even before the outbreak. She had to wonder though if the supposed safety and community would be worth being surrounded by so many that had been close to Zoie.
Meanwhile, Ash was changing out his clothing with a sense of urgency disproportionate to the situation. It was as if the theme from The Lone Ranger were somehow playing in the background, motivating the man to such wearable textile gymnastics as was unseen since the first time Ash had to leave a boudoir as a teenager before his sweetheart's father got home. It was a very short matter of time before he was back in his grey and black "Class B's" and his suit was hung up on the back of the bathroom door, zipped up in its matte garment bag. He folded over his patrol cap and slipped it into a cargo pocket, then swiftly returned to the sitting room.
Ash lay his utility belt on the table next to his plate, fixed his pistol and knife to it, and waited patiently for his guest to return. The cat was still in extreme repose in the corner, seemingly uninterested in everything and everyone around it. Ash fought off the urge at huck a pillow at him. Schrodinger was comfortable. It would be a shame to run him off.
After finishing up and getting things straightened, Thana stepped out of the spare room and closed the door behind her. Making her way down the hall she stepped around the corner into the sitting room. Out of the dress she had found something more comfortable to wear and it hadn't been what she had rode into Newnan in. In her pack had been a set of dark blue fleece pajamas and she had figured why the hell not. The night was coming and it seemed that they were hunkered down for the evening. Giving Ash a shrug and a small smile she stepped over to the couch and plopped down in her bare feet.
"Figured we weren't goin' anywhere else tonight." Reaching over she picked up her plate and tucked her feet beneath her, resting the plate on her lap.
"Mind handin me a fork? Don't wanna reach over ya." Ash was staring. He didn't realize that he was staring until Thana started talking, which was followed by immediate feeling of self-consciousness. The request for a fork snapped him out of it.
"Ah, yeah, umm... yes, ma'am." he stammered out, procuring a fork from the table and handing it over. He had not expected to see her dressed with such extreme informality. Perhaps even more than his first glimpse of her in the red dress, Ash looked upon her as a woman and not simply a colleague. Naturally, he had no desire to speak of this openly. Raw guilt alone would have prevented that, anyway. Trying to continue the conversation without tipping his hand too much, he responded,
"Lord knows I have nowhere to be until morning." "Well that's good," Thana said nonchalantly as she took the fork and rested back a bit getting comfortable. She hadn't noticed him staring, more concerned with the food than anything else at that point. The small piece of cornbread she had picked at earlier had only served to let her know she was hungry. Being around the smell of food at the reception had reminded her she hadn't eaten properly in a while. Sure she had MRE's in her pack but actual food hadn't been on the menu in a while.
Ash peeled the cover back from his plate of redneck epicure to inspect his supper for the day. The security guy certainly piled them thick and high. Ash poked into his sausage and grits with his own fork, and looked over to Thana with an unusually serene (for him) look on his face.
"Maybe tomorrow, I can give you the grand tour. Newnan has quite a bit to offer the standard Apocalypse survivor - even something to offer the exceptional ones, too, if you feel like staying a while." Smirking a bit to herself as she looked down at her plate and slipped her fork into the potato salad.
"Is this where you tell me that I should give Newnan a chance?" she said as she glanced over to him out of the corner of her eye. It had been an on going thing since she arrived. It wasn't constant but it had been at least the third time since she arrived that he had brought up her staying longer than the night in Newnan.
"Beginning to wonder if you had been a recruiter for a time before the outbreak," she said before taking a bite of her food and pulling the fork clean from between her lips as she gave him a bit of a look. Curving her fingers she held them in front of her lips as she finished her thought.
"Alright, give me the pitch." "Didn't realize I was being pushy about it." came from Ash after a hard swallow.
"Sorry 'bout that." He shoveled a couple more bites in, chewing quickly. Apparently, he was more hungry than he thought. When he was clear to speak again, he motioned with his fork, punctuating his words as he spoke.
"I honestly can't say that I have an 'elevator speech' for recruiting. Most people enter through the South Gate and are brought past livestock, get an okay look at crops in the distance and some of our facilities here, not to mention the expansive walls and armed guards. It does pretty much all of the talking for us. We sit down and have our little interview, and mostly it comes down to letting them know that we have a way of doing things here, finding out what they're good at, and saying that they're free to leave whenever." Thana could understand him not really have to say things in the past. It was obvious why most would choose to stay in the town. Electricity was a large perk, the walls even more so. People here were clean and well taken care of, she hadn't seen signs of starvation and everyone seemed healthy. They had enough resources to have a wedding, to get dressed up; in some ways it was as if the outbreak had never happened. There were children and elderly. Most people probably came in and thought they had hit the jackpot. Granted Thana wasn't most people.
The Captain hesitated over a large bit of smoked pork, but decided to complete his thought before he mercilessly attacked and consumed it.
"The best Sales Pitch I can think of revolves around what we're not. We aren't cannibals, we aren't bandits, we're not a murder cult either. There's no secret initiation where you come to realize that we aren't what we appear at face value. Mostly, we're a bunch of people that realized working together and keeping each other safe and fed is the best way to stay alive." Ash paused for a second or two, wary of his next statement.
"And if I'm being completely open, I just had a feeling that you belong here. I'm not psychic or anything (I'm not sure if I even believe in psychics), but I think this could be a home. So yeah, give me a little time. If nothing else, I would value your opinion on the way we do some things." With that, the morsel of pork went down like a trooper.
Thana had kept her attention on Ash as he continued on. The fact he brought up what they weren't caused a slight chuckle to come from her lips. Him telling her what they weren't didn't put her at ease, it made her sarcastically question in her mind if she was eating the other white meat or the other
other white meat. Was this a
Bob-B-Q? He seemed trustworthy but Thana didn't give people the benefit of the doubt. They got a clean slate with her and when they marred it, it was marred for life. She wasn't as trusting as her doppelganger. Then his next words came and she slowly lowered her fork as he committed D-Day on the pork. That had come out of left field and she gave him a look as if she had just been smacked in the face with a trout on M-iRc back in the day.
Blinking a few times she lowered her fork and balled up her fist as she brought her hand up and covered her mouth slightly as she cleared her throat. Tilting her head to the side as she lowered her hand she looked back over towards Ash.
"Permission to speak freely sir?" It seemed just a little silly to Ash, asking permission to speak freely. Again. The paradox of Thana was that, while she insisted on dressing and lounging as comfortably as possible, her speech so far had given nary a hint of the casual nature that was to be found in almost every other facet of the woman. He sighed quietly, and looked her in the eyes.
"Ma'am, I appreciate your formality. But our shared military experience aside, you are a welcome guest in my home. Let's assume that, at least for the duration of this conversation, you have full permission to speak freely. What's on your mind?" "I'll consider it sir," she said between a few light coughs as she picked up her plate and let her feet hit the floor. Resting it on the table in front of them she picked up the bottle and took a quick swig to help with the tickle in the back of her throat. Normally she would have gotten or requested a glass but this was one of those tickles that usually hit people and then kept hitting until it sounded like they were dying. Usually right in the middle of a quiet scene in a movie or in the middle of finals. She wanted to stave it off as quickly as possible.
"Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the sentiment but I don't see myself as a guest. I see myself as an applicant. I see you as one as well. Both weighin' the other out to see if it is worth the investment. What we can get from each other in trade. How the world works, how it has always worked." Her voice was frank and even now that she had cleared away the tickle. What she said wasn't meant as an insult or to call things into question. She was being genuine when she spoke. Upfront and honest in what she said and how she felt about the situation.
Turning she crossed her legs and looked at him as she rested her hand on the back of the couch with the other in her lap.
"Now, concerning what I was goin' to say. You say that ya would value my opinion on things and that you feel I belong here. I have to question why but that can wait. My opinion? I got too close to this place b'fore a gun was raised, ya need watches further out. I watched this place two days in the snow before approachin'. From what I saw of yer walls when I was shuffled in all cloak and dagger was that you should have water troughs along the walls collecting rain water and funnelin' it down to flora you can make climb or grow hydroponically in case of soil contamination or infestation. And if you aren't already I would bring in a large scale igloo style greenhouse to keep crops growing year round, utilize arctic crop growing techniques to have year round production during the few months in this state that it is cold and the few times we get a freeze like this." She spoke like a professor as she gave a first analysis of Newnan, her hands moving as needed to accentuate her point before they came down and rested in her lap. Then came the rest.
"You've told me what this place is since I didn't see it fully. You've told me what is isn't. So, what's wrong with the place? Other than petty theft." She asked him evenly when she brought up the theft she had seen. She wanted to know what she was gettin' into more than just her sister had been there first. This place seemed like Eden (the Bible Eden, not Peachtree City), but even Eden fell and it was because of something stupid.
That was a mouthful. And most of it seemed to be rooted in perfectly sound logic. But that last question hung in the air like a stale wind.
"Fair enough. I'd like to see what you think of our medical garden and crops, once you get a closer look. Good or bad, I appreciate your input. Now, as to your question - sure. There are things that are wrong with this place. Some of which I intend to rectify directly. Others are not so simple." Ash took up the bottle of peach liquor and imbibed a healthy swig of it, himself.
"The biggest domestic problem is with our people, obviously. We have a collection of seemingly random individuals that have made this place their home, long after my people from Virginia and the former CO's people integrated with the few locals that remained here. Some of these people have more colorful personalities and tendencies that make them irritating at best. Some have a difficult time with the fact that there is a presence of authority here. The petty theft angle is new, to my knowledge." Ash moved on to the next bit that gave him concern,
"Further, we built these walls with expansion in mind. The upside is that we have a fair amount of unused buildings and open space. The downside is that we don't presently have numbers that I am comfortable to readily defend all of it. In times of crisis, we have to pull everyone back to the Inner Wall and go from there." "Which moves us on to the big problem. There is a community living just east of here in Peachtree City. What I know of them came from two survivors of that place; your sister and a guy name of Ryan. (He's the one that called "Safe!" when Ray took his tumble.) They call their community Eden, and they seem to like to show up randomly, take shots at us and commit other acts of terror. They are a problem that I would like to see burned to the ground and stomped into dust. But right now, we barely have the ammunition to protect ourselves. If this issue is not resolved quickly and decisively, we will tax much of the resources to maintain our security, should this become all out war. I would firebomb their whole location, Lord knows we have enough alcohol to ash the place, but as I understand there are innocents there. If this aggression goes on, I will have to make a hard choice. Thankfully, it has been some time since they have made themselves known last." There is was, open and bare. There was the risk of living in Newnan. Aside from the obvious issues of the Dead, there were issues of extreme personality conflict, a design flaw in the planning of the community, and the ever-lurking threat of Eden. Ash sincerely hoped that his sudden bout of blunt honesty didn't scare her off immediately.
