[Junk XIII] Mount Up (K 3-5, S 3-5)

Rich

It's late morning, everyone is outside. Kodak gathers folks together before you head out, "Alright, I got a heading and next destination for Tradertown. They're headed northeast, about three days out. They're trying to skirt around the Wendys territory and head up towards Red Hills."

One of the prospects groans, but Kodak keeps talking, "Now, Tradertown never stops moving, but it is slow. We need to get a move on and drive as long as we can. I got extra petrol, so we can gas up on the road. I want to push for as long as we can today. If we can catch them before Red Hills, that's better for us. We've got food to sell, and I've heard the oasis is well stocked, so we need to trade for what we can NOW."

"That's drek," Zagnut says, "They won't buy if they know Oasis will have more and cheaper."

"Hey now," Kodak says with a grin, "I thought you wanted to get hold of your guy sooner rather than later. Let me worry about the sales stuff, yeah?"

Kiddo, the prospects are looking at their bikes in confusion, something's up.

Stitch, did you try to bring Metro along?

Adam

I circle around the group over to the prospects and eye their bikes curiously, "What's up girls? Forget how to turn it on?"

Rich

Zagnut snickers at that one. Prospect Mirage says loudly, "Somebody frakked with my bike!"

Prospect Amazon agrees, but she starts up her bike, "Yeah, M, BUT, mine's purring now!" And yes, her crappy dirt bike made of maybe five different bikes sounds not quite as bad as before.

Adam

I giggle at Amazon's joke about her little dirt-bike — which is likely made from six different bikes now. "Really Amazon? You jacked her bike for parts? You gunna let this poor bitch ride with you if it doesn't start?"

Rich

Amazon blinks, because you didn't call her Prospect, but she recovers and turns to Prospect Mirage right as she's walking over to probably punch her. Amazon says quick, "Sis, I didn't touch your bike!" She looks up to Zagnut for help.

Zagnut snickers, "Kiddo, gonna let them fight it out?"

Adam

I giggle, "No. Now, now none of that. Does your bike start, Mirage?"

Rich

Mirage glares at you for a moment, Kiddo, Then she stalks back to throw a leg over her bike. She turns the key, kickstarts it, and it starts up right away. She looks surprised, "What the FRAK? It takes me like five or six starts for this little bitch to idle."

Zagnut hoots, "Ha Ha! We got some bike goblins or some drek in here!" She reaches into a pouch on her jacket and pulls out some pork rinds and munches on one.

Adam

Goblins my ass – I'd bet real jingle Brillo is responsible for this... Where is he, anyway? What does he think? He can pull a Maxwell House or something?

I wave back to the prospects and turn to leave. "Roll out ladies – we've gotta leave some dust behind us!"

Rich

The crew starts up and heads out. Kodak is driving the truck, the girls file in, some ahead, others behind. Where are you, Kiddo? Stitch, did you convince Metro to drive the van?

Kiddo, why don't you give me an Act Under Fire to see how day one goes?

Adam

OOC: Ok. Acting Under Fire. Roll+Cool. +1XP rolling highlighted.
(Rolled: 2d6+3. Rolls: 5, 1. Total: 9)

Rich

Your caravan makes great time on day one, you don't pull over to rest until girls are about to nod off. In fact, one rider did nod off, and ended up having to lay her bike down. She got torn up pretty bad, and her bike is in rough shape. That's when you call it a night.

Who was it, Kiddo? Zag, Mirage or Amazon?

It feels like 2 AM.

What do you do?

Adam

Zag... It's her own frakking fault though — the bitch just needed to light up when we stopped a minute to grab food from the crates. I helped Rinny get her and her bike up onto the back of the truck, and gave her some more weed for the pain.

I mean, what the frak else could we give her?

Once Zag's on the back of the truck, I pull the Prospects together away from Zag and have a little pow-wow. "If she tries to get on her bike tomorrow, tell me, and I'll knock her the frak out. I don't want any more bullshit, yeah?"

Rich

Amazon asks, "What's her malfunction, Kiddo? I thought the Candies were badass, like mom."

Mirage pipes in, "Or your moms. But Zag... she's a frak-up."

Adam

I shoot them both a disapproving look, "Respect where it's due, ladies — Zag may not be the sharpest knife in the box anymore, but she rode tough times with the rest of 'em. You earn a candy name, and Zag earned hers." I sigh, "she's just... Weathered..." Like everyone else...

Frak...

"I've gotta catch that asshole in Tradertown — if you girls wanna lug her ass back to Boomtown, I understand, but if not then we'll just let her sleep it off."

Rich

Amazon says with some urgency, "We don't wanna go back, Kiddo. Kitty said you'd make us hard..."

"Like you." Mirage finishes. "We can keep Zag in line if you want. Take away her weed and drek."

Kiddo, when you say prospects, are you including Starburst? Just curious where she rates on the Kiddo-o-meter.

Adam

Y'know, I hadn't thought of that... I hadn't really intended on getting in on the gang's business, but if someone puts these folks at risk, I probably should try to send 'em packing. I don't really know what any of these girls can do... Starburst was there for the Wendy attack though, and she's still alive – so she can at least survive...

"Just keep her off the bike. She's gotta heal up, and we can't keep her off the weed while that's happening... Like I said – she gives you any trouble, I'll knock her out."

Rich

Kodak comes up out of the truck, Kiddo, calls you over, "Got a sec, Kiddo?" I assume you head over, right? He starts to put a hand on your shoulder, but hesitates, then puts it back down by his side, "How long do you folks need to rest, Kiddo?"

Adam

I sniffle and follow Kodak away from the prospects. I'm surprisingly a little worn out. Must have been the whole day on the road... Anyway, I shrug indifferently, "I dunno... What did you have in mind?"

Rich

Kodak sighs through his nose, then reaches up to massage the bridge of his nose. "Frakkin Zagnut had a bit of a point about me trying to move food before they hit Oasis.... dammit." He looks off into the waste like he could imagine Tradertown. "What if I cut losses here, drop half my cargo here in the middle of nowhere, have one or two of your girls sit on it. Then the rest can load up their bikes on the truck and we just ride on through the night, swapping off driving. We could catch Tradertown tomorrow night. Or, if you can keep them on the road through the night, we can just keep going."

He's trying to offer up a solution.

hey Stitch, you and Metro and his van are here. Are you helping Zagnut?

Rich

Oh and by the way, you can hear the radio in the truck. Roma is introducing a new track, "Man, that dangermouse was a trip, right? Her's something to put your sleepyheads relaxing. These guys were called Jurassic Five, a bunch of old guys who kept rapping till they were like eighty or somethin. You cannot deny their FLOW."

A song call What's Golden comes on. VB is nodding her head along in the front seat.

Genevieve

I'll help Zagnut as much as Kiddo wants me to. I'm not going to get in the middle of a bunch of badass chicks, I'm just the doc.

Rich

Stitch,

Zag laid her bike down, took some road rash and a few bumps. Her ankle might be broken, but you'd need to get in there and check it out to make sure.

Adam

I raise an eyebrow skeptically when he suggests dumping half his cargo here... Not even I think that's a good idea. "Kodak... I get what you're sayin', but a couple of girls out here with a bunch of crates? ... Some of these girls are pretty green... How long do you think it'd take to hit Tradertown if we stopped overnight?"

Rich

Kiddo,

Kodak huffs a sigh, "Green? Frak... alright, nix that idea. If we don't run into anything else, we could probably sleep till dawn and catch Tradertown about this time tomorrow. If we're lucky." He looks at you for this one, "That work?"

Adam

I nod, and pat him on the shoulder, "At least that way you can take your chances selling whatever you've got, yeah?"

Genevieve

Zag's in the back of the truck, right? I'll switch over from Metro's van when we stop and check her out.

Rich

Kiddo,

Kodak nods to that, Kiddo. "Alright." He turns to address everyone, "Let's make camp here. Rest till dawn."

Stitch,

Yeah, ankle's broken. You can splint it, but riding a bike will hurt. No stock needed to set the bone and splint it. But she won't be able to ride without pain for a month.

Genevieve

I pull Kiddo aside and tell her the situation. "I can do my other kind of healing, but I'm not keen for that to be common knowledge. Your call, they seem to be your girls, now. How did that happen, anyway?" I realize I haven't talked to Kiddo in a while and it seems like I missed a lot.

Adam

I look dumbfounded when Stitch suggests they're "my" girls, and I shake my head emphatically, "No! No," I lean in and start whispering, "they're not my girls — they're just," I pause, searching for the right words, but nothing's coming to mind, "they're just helping me find my Ma' and Dad — and I'm helping them get along... That's all!"

I look over to Zag, and sigh loudly, "Look... It's her own damn fault for smoking up while riding that tired. Let her feel it for a while so she learns her lesson, yeah? I don't want you taking any unnecessary risks if you don't gotta."

Genevieve

The way those girls were looking to Kiddo, they sure seemed like her girls. "Alright. I'll splint it. She won't be able to ride without pain for a month or so- she did a number on it."

I go back to Zagnut and set her bone- I do it fast and don't warn her about it, it's better that way. "It's gonna hurt for a while. Try and stay off it- it'll heal faster." I tell her.

When I'm done with her, I go back to the van and see what Metro's up to.

Rich

Zagnut sucks in a breath, but she's still a little baked and she's pretty tough, so she doesn't move when you set and splint it. She just says, "Thanks, doc. I'll ride tomorrow."

She calls you over, Kiddo. "Hey bitch, sorry I laid it down. Ima get some z's, I'll be up tomorrow."

Stitch, you head over to see that Metro's parked the van, set up the griddle and coffee pot. He's cooking some bug paste and making a pot of coffee. VB and Svenja are over there, they haven't exactly asked if he's cooking extra, but yeah, they want what he's got.

What do you do?

Adam

I frown, "the frak you will! You're staying put, yeah? Get a couple days rest, doc's orders."

Rich

Kiddo, irritation flickers across her face, and Zagnut slams a hand onto the bed of the truck, "I didn't ask yer frakkin permission, Kiddo. I'm telling you." She drops her voice, "And Kitty's little pussies, they better watch their pretty mouths, or Ima cut their titties off."

Genevieve

I resist the urge to lecture Zagnut. She's not going to listen to me, anyway, I'd just be wasting breath.

"Hey." I say to VB, Svenja and Metro as I walk over.

Adam

My eyes narrow, and I walk over to her slowly. "No-one asked what you frakking thought Zag," I put a hand on her busted ankle, just tight enough that it stings a bit, "you're staying put, Doc's orders, and Kitty's little pussies are on my watch until you can walk again — cause you couldn't be assed to stay on your frakking bike."

If she gives me lip one more time, I'm lifting her leg and smashing her ankle against the bed of the truck.

Rich

VB says, "Holy drek, that smells good, right, Stitch?"

Svenja butts in, "Girl, don't beat around the bush. Stitch, yo. Your boy gonna feed us, too?"

Kiddo, give me a Go Aggro on that. Because... dayum.

Adam

OOC: Going aggro on Zagnut. Roll+Cool* (ice cold). +1XP rolling highlighted.
(Rolled: 2d6+3. Rolls: 4, 5. Total: 12)

Genevieve

I look back to Kiddo and Zagnut. I just fixed her damn ankle!

"Up to him." I answer to Svenja. I don't mind Metro being 'my boy', though- there's a bit of a smile in my eyes. "You not eat at Bubbletown?" I ask her. VB seems to be always hungry, though she can't seem to keep any weight on. I wonder if parasites are common here...

Rich

Zagnut holds on for a bit before she breaks. But in the moonlight, you see the tension around her eyes. She grimaces, then finally looks away, "Yeah, alright. Fine. I'll stay up here. With yer man. Rest up and drek." She adds with a sullen tone, "But they oughta know better'n piss me off, yeah? I got a vote on them gettin in or not. And the needle frakkin points to no right now."

She looks back at you, says seriously, "I didn't mean to hold us up, Kiddo. Just... hadn't ridden that long in a while. Sorry."

Rich

Svenja laughs, "Aw, Stitch, Bubble City was 16 fucking hours ago! Shit. What's he like for trade, Stitch? That shit smells fucking amazing."

VB chimes in, "Yeah, it smells really good." She gives you a pat on the shoulder, leans in to whisper, "He's really cute, too."

Metro says from inside the van, "There's enough to share. Gather round, I only have a few plates." He steps out of the van and hands the first plate to you, Stitch. Then he heads back in to make some for the girls.

The others start filing over, and Metro keeps making food for everyone. Well, Rinso is working on prepping the camp. Zagnut and Kiddo are chatting.

Genevieve

Not my fault if she spent all her jingle on drink and didn't have anything to eat in the car. "Tech." I answer her. I'm not giving Svenja lip. I've been busy with the clinic in Boomtown, but I'd rather not get on her bad side. "Working or not."

I hand my plate to VB and smile at her comment. "I'll share your plate." I say into the van.

Adam

I'm indifferent about whether or not she votes the girls into the Candies — what they wanna do with their newbies is up to them — but when she's getting help from my doc, and riding with my folks she follows my rules.

I let go of her leg, and cross my arms, "Best we stop anyway. No sense in being burnt out when I find Big Ticket... Gotta be on top of shit. You want some water or something?"

Rich

Stitch,

"Thanks!" VB starts scarfing off her plate and gives you a big grin, then she heads over to share with Rinso.

Svenja digs into her pack and pulls out a Ironman watch. She hands it off to Metro when he appears at the van door. He gives her a plate, saying, "That's a good watch, you can eat a few more meals for that."

Then Svenja says, "Will it pay for everyone here tonight?"

Metro looks over at you, Stitch, smirks, and says, "Yeah."

Kiddo,

Zagnut shrugs, "Yeah, I'm thirsty. Crushed my water bottle in the wreck, too. Frakkin rank ass day."

Adam

I hand Zag my water bottle, and jump up into the truck with Rinny. "Speak for yourself," I whisper as I nuzzle up next to my man.

Genevieve

My face breaks into a wide grin at that smirk! I have to resist the urge to jump into the van and close the door...

Rich

Kiddo, you get Rinso's attention, then VB comes over with a plateful of hot food. The three of you share and she even helps Rinnie put up the couple tents.

Stitch, Metro pours you the first cup of coffee, this one has a slight hazelnut blend, and he diligently feeds the entire crew. Rinso ends up cleaning off his few plates, and as if he read your mind, Metro asks you quietly when you're alone, "Since you slept during some of the trip, think you've got enough energy for a massage?"

Genevieve

I cup the mug of coffee in both hands, watching Metro.

"Yes, but first come with me." I tell him. I walk us over to a patch of ground a little ways off, where it's darker. I sit down and lay back, looking up at the stars and moons.

Rich

Stitch,

Metro follows you, into the dark. The bits of conversation from the crew as they eat and chat grow quieter. He stands by you for a moment, then realizes you probably want him to lie down, so he does, right beside you. And in his way, he is comfortable with the quiet.

What do you do?

Genevieve

"Which one is Earth?" I ask him, after staring up in silence for a few minutes.

Rich

Stitch,

Without hesitation, he points up into the sky, like he always knows where it is, even now, even here, "There." He turns his head to look at you, watching you find the point.

Rich

Kiddo,

Stitch and Metro snuck off somewhere, everyone is eating food and preparing for sleeping. Who did you put on first watch?

Genevieve

"Huh." Is all I can say when I see it. It's just a tiny little dot. My brain can't process the distance at all. Everyone I knew, my whole life... millions of miles away. I giggle a little, it's just so ridiculous, right?

"Any progress on the other AI tonight?" I ask after a while.

Adam

I stuck myself on first watch, 'cause I don't think I'd be able to get up later if I passed out now... I have Svenja on second watch for good measure. I picked a nice spot up on top of the truck, and sit crosslegged looking out over the camp.

Rich

Stitch,

Metro replies softly, "None." He reaches a hand, the one he pointed to Earth, over to stroke your cheek.

--END SCENE--