[u][b]Brother Quaid – Lighthouse [/b][/u] "I assure you, brother," he began, "We are all too familiar with such things. Fear and desperation has a way of pushing even normal men and women into doing terrible things, and we must always be vigilant lest we become their prey." The Inquisitor paused for a second, then stood up. "I thank you, brother, for enlightening me of the challenges your congregation faces. This is all I require from you at this moment." And without another word the Inquisitor turned and exited. Quaid held his position in the chair for a moment before rising quickly and throwing it across the small room. He swore and grabbed his gamma pistol and headed for the door before stopping and turning. Walking back across the room, he came to the small metal table and hunched over it. He pulled a scrap of paper from the pile and laid it out as flat as he could. Quaid wrote quickly, his poor handwriting resembling more the scratches from a rad-chicken than legible English. Once finished, he folded the paper and moved over to a rusted, old filing cabinet in the corner of the room. He dug through the top drawer until he found an amber hunk of wax and a crude construction consisting of a metal button pressed into an aging knife handle. Taking the wax and seal back to the table, Quid melted the wax over the flame of the lantern and let the melted wax run onto the folded paper before pressing the seal into the puddle and holding it as it dried. Taking the paper, he moved towards the exit before stopping and walking back towards the closet, he glanced at the shoes inside then closed the door with a slam. Exiting the lighthouse Quaid avoided the Inquisitor and made his way to a group of devotees huddled around a fire pit. “Brother Shelby,” a thin man with straight dark hair raised his head, Quaid handed him the paper, “I have message that must be run to County Crossing before the day is out.” There was the peal of thunder and greenish lightning arced in the distance. Shelby looked at Quaid and then the sky, then back at Quaid. The storm would be upon them within the hour, Quaid frowned “Hurry or you’ll be caught in it.” Shelby nodded and made ready his things for leaving. Quaid made his way back to the Lighthouse, there was the crash of thunder again, and Quaid hoped this storm was not a premonition of things to come. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [u][b]Brother Abraham – Crater House [/b][/u] The storm had almost arrived as Abraham and Ada and Reed arrived in Crater House. The Children were preparing for the coming storm, despite the fact that it brought Atom’s Glow within its winds, the Children were well aware of the dangers of its high speed winds and deadly surges of radiation. “Make sure the congregation is ready and inside,” Ada and Reed nodded at his command and moved out. Abraham made his way to his personal shack, a few other Children moved past him, heading for their own shelters. One of them, an actual child of no more than twelve winters and clutching a sheet of paper, crashed into him. The boy stood up quickly, made eye contact with Abraham briefly before turning and fleeing in obvious fear. Abraham half chuckled before continuing his way to his shack. It was near the center of the crater and was essentially a lean-to built next to the central Chapel. His door was ajar and he stepped in and closed and locked the door behind him. Abraham scanned his chamber before he made his way toward the chair that laid by the back porthole. Easing himself into the chair, Abraham reached toward his unfinished sermon on makeshift table in front of him. His hands met solid wood instead of paper however, and he swiped back and forth before looking down on the ground. The floor was bare save from clods of dirt tracked in by himself and Brother Reed. Abraham stood and moved towards his chest but stopped when he found the padlock on it still shut. He leaned back on his heels as he squatted thinking back to before he departed for the Lighthouse. He had not unlocked his chest and put it within, he had sworn he had left it on his table by his chair, where Brother Reed had found him. Abraham stood and made his way to his porthole, he slid the metal covering opening and looked out toward the approaching storm. He thought of the Inquisitor and Quaid and the dangers posed by both of them. Abraham knew he must be careful in his movements and choose his words carefully. If he revealed too much, too early, or at the wrong time, he risked it all. The thunder pealed and lightning illuminated the sky. It seemed a strong premonition for the trouble ahead. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [u][b]Louis Pacion - County Crossing [/b][/u] Louis slammed his hand down hard on the table, keeping the pile of cards from being blown away. He put his own in his mouth and used his free hand to retrieve a rock from the ground, he placed it on the pile of cards and took his own cards and fanned them between his hands. A king of spades and an eight of hearts, for a total of eighteen, Louis peeked at the two other men at the table, trying to decipher if they were any closer to twenty one then he was. “Fucking hell Louis the storm will be here any minute now,” said a gruff, balding man sitting across the table from Louis, the butt of a hand rolled cigarette clenched tight between his teeth. “Then that gives you another minute to win your caps back, you should be happy.” “Yeah I’m overjoyed,” “Shut up and show what you got already, I wanna get the fuck out of here.” Barked the third man, he had scarred brown skin and was missing more than a few teeth. The storm was now crossing over the river from the Boston ruins, lightning occasionally brightening the green haze. “You really that eager to lose the last of your caps?” Louis smiled, he was enjoying seeing the other men stress over the coming storm, it would ensure they made mistakes and that he made off with their caps. There was a moment of tension as they looked at their cards then each other, then back to their cards. Lightning lit the sky and the tension was broken by thunder and the sound of water dropping on to sheet metal. “Sonofabitch, I’m out.” The balding man spit his cigarette on the ground and then laid his cards flat. A two of clubs, nine of diamonds and five of hearts, sixteen total. “Me too,” said the other man, laying his cards flat; a 7 of hearts, and nine of clubs, sixteen again. Louis grinned and laid his cards down, the two other men groaned and tossed their cards towards the pile and pushed off from the table and walked towards the common house. “Take care gentlemen, I’d be happy to play again sometime!” Louis smiled as he scrapped the pool of caps into a pouch and then stuffed the deck of cards into his pockets. The wind was picking up and the debris left on the ground was beginning to be kicked around. Louis moved from the table and made his way towards the common house at the far side of the field of gourds. He moved down the lines of tatos and up the small wooden stairwell to the front door. Trying the handle he found it wouldn’t budge, he tried again hoping the door was just stuck but only confirmed his fear of it being locked. “Hey open this shit up!” Louis banged on the door with his fist, glancing over his shoulder at the storm. It had crossed the river and was now upon them, there was a great flash of green light immediately followed by a massive crash and sheets of rain began to fall from the sky. Louis banged on the door again, frantic to be let in. The peep-slot of the door was slid open and Louis made eye contact with one of the men he had been playing against. The bald man had a fresh cigarette in his mouth, he took a drag and then exhaled it through the slot and into Louis face. “Bunks are twenty five caps a night,” Louis narrowed his eyes. “Fuck off Darius I live here, and I’m not giving you your caps back. Now let me in.” “Space is filling up fast, there must be a storm blowing in.” The man was nearly laughing at his own scheme and joke. Louis slammed his fist into the door again. “Let me in!” The man laughed and exhaled another puff of smoke before sliding the slot close. Louis cursed and beat the door again, the rain was soaking through his clothing and he scrambled to find shelter. Running through the field he came to the central generator for the settlement. A large windmill made from old plane turbines affixed to an electrical tower, there was lean-to covering the delicate parts of the generator but was not complete of large enough to house Louis for the storm. Looking around Louis noticed a gap between the base of the generator and the ground. A small hole no more than two feet wide and less that in height. Seeing no other option Louis laid flat on his stomach and wormed his way inside.