[b]Tremblay - Baton Rouge/Furniture Store[/b]

He hadn't left the 'office' all day, his mind constantly spinning and churning at the display of charts laid out before him. More and more people were finding themselves in the city-- this wasn't exactly surprising, but not enough of them were passing through for Tremblay's liking. It was always going to be a matter of resources, at least until the world started to maintain some semblance of what it had been before. That could take years-- maybe even decades, until a new generation managed to come through. Still, there was no point in putting their hopes on the future, for it was the [i]now[/i] that they had to deal with.

They'd extended the olive branch to many groups in the area, striking deals with them in order to foster a symbiotic relationship of sorts. Those that insisted on being alone were eventually cleared away or assimilated into either Tremblay's or Magnus' groups. [i]Or[/i] Richard's band of [i]'merry'[/i] men, if they were so inclined. Unfortunately, this pyramid of cards was starting to bend in on itself, with too many groups getting frustrated and feeling like they didn't need to associate themselves with the governing powers of Baton Rouge. Just staring at the map of angry red thumbtacks made Tremblay weary.

As he moved to pick at his stack of papers, two men entered the room. It was Jon and Matt, who both looked a little bit lost to be back here. Tremblay was vaguely worried that something went wrong with their clearance, so he moved around the desk to meet the pair. "You're back too soon. What happened?"

Jon seemed to hesitate as he shared a look with Matt. "Well," he began, pulling off his cap to rub at shaved head. "Magnus got there before us. His crew were already clearing the place... told us to leave. I know you wouldn't have wanted us to start a fight, so we just decided to come back here."

Tremblay regarded this silently for a moment, before letting his guard down a little and sighing. Rubbing at tired eyes, he nodded his head. "Okay. That was for the best. I'm sure Magnus is just bored and wanted something to do. More power to him, as long as he isn't starting those foul experiments up again."

Another look was shared with Matt. "That's not all," Jon said. "We ran into some guy wandering on his own. Managed to grab him, but he seemed to have wanted to be captured. He, uh, knew Matt. He knows you."

With that, said individual walked into the room, and Tremblay found himself smirking. "A small world," he muttered. It was Jamie, one of the the Outpost scouts Tremblay had encountered during his trip back to New Orleans. Now, though, the boy looked ragged and tired. Tremblay wondered if he'd trekked up here by himself.

"He says he came with another group," Jon said, as if to correct Tremblay's thought. "Him and Matt got to talking, and it seems he's got connections to both Outpost and Tyler."

Jamie nodded, still standing in the doorway of the store. Tremblay waved him in, gesturing toward a collection of beds and sofas. "We have a few things to discuss, then. I'll talk to you later, Matt. You too, Jon. I just want to make sure I have a handle on the flow of information before you get to processing all this." Jon nodded dutifully, used to this cagey behavior, and led Matt away. Tremblay turned his attention toward Jamie, who looked rather out of place on the couch.

"I was with a man named Enrique," Jamie said, apparently eager to get talking. "Someone burned Myriah's cabin down, and the guy's girlfriend got caught up in it. He flipped out and left, though I guess he wasn't too happy about being accused of murder." Tremblay gave him a grim smile at that. Matt had already informed him of this. "But... anyway, some stuff went down, and I just wasn't feeling it. I didn't want to be in Outpost any longer, but I didn't want to be with them either. Once we got close to the city, I slipped away. I doubt any of them noticed, honestly."

Jamie seemed happy to explain why he was here, but Tremblay honestly couldn't care less. "You don't seem surprised that I'm in charge around here," he said.

Having been looking down at the ground, Jamie looked up to hesitantly meet Tremblay's gaze. "Well, you had that air about you, you know? It honestly kind of made sense... I guess I was a bit surprised when Matt mentioned it, but we're all ending up here these days, it seems."

"Yes." Not wanting to move into idle chatter, Tremblay leaned forward to press the issue. "Here's our situation. Normally, I'd tell you to get out of my city as quickly as possible, but your connection to Outpost could be useful to me. I heard Enrique had some sort of connection with Tyler, and I'd like you to explain that to me to the best of your ability."

Jamie stared for a moment, before taking a deep breath and starting his explanation. It was illuminating for Tremblay, to say the least, as it quickly placed all the missing pieces in place. What should happen-- no, what [i]needed[/i] to happen-- became apparent to Tremblay as Jamie talked, and he knew he couldn't pass up the opportunity. Just as long as his flimsy pyramid stayed standing just long enough for him to get it done.