Day ??? of year 384 Post-Downfall
Sunstorm onset

[h3]The Lone Survivor[/h3]

	[i]“They won’t shoot you if they can tell you’re with me and that I’m bringing you of my own volition. Pretty much everyone knows who I am in Eighfour; being ‘the girl with the gate’ makes everyone at the settlement pretty interested in me, though not always in a good way. They’ll probably spot my cart and put their guns away immediately! No need to worry. None at all.” [/i]
	"And would it be because they're confident in you, or because they are afraid they'll damage your associated gadgetry?" he inquired. [i]Too dark?[/i] Perhaps he should not have said that, but for whatever reason her manner of speech had lead him straight to something that was equal measures gallows humor and genuine question, and he had responded before his brain caught up on the fact that he was not with his [i]usual[/i] company. To be fair, it [i]could[/i] have been risky even with his usual company, depending on the vicinity of more suspicious officers. 
	[i]“Unrelatedly, my cart is pretty resistant to bullets. Just so you know.”[/i]
	"Huh." Was that by design or just a coincidence? Engines stopped bullets fairly decently. Fuel or batteries could rather mean an opposite effect. There was probably stuff inside that might stop a bullet. Frames aside, there was usually little functional reason to reinforce a light vehicle to the point of having [i]any[/i] stopping power against bullets of his calibre. An AP bullet slowed down to seven hundred meters per second would be just as lethal.  
	His first in-person look at Eighfour followed a brief climb disrupting the otherwise fairly monotonous landscape distinguished mainly by the types of trees you could see around you (it was better to stick to where the conifers were if you wanted to get through with anything larger than yourself; the deciduous trees made thickets). Disturbingly, a part of him thought it could also be a big-ass crater the faction had decided to inhabit, by the way it seemed to curve around the buildings toward the center, as became evident once he had climbed it. And if it was a crater, it was probably not a natural one. 
	For a few seconds - Kay permitting - he stopped, attempting to glean what he could from the elevated position. He could just about discern a couple of turrets and low, varied buildings of some description. There was a truck departing. This one was distinct regardless of its comparatively small size mostly because it moved. And was warm. The sunstorm prohibited further analysis. Wind was dead quiet. There were electromagnetic disturbances aplenty and radiation was up, but thankfully, the weather was not throwing worse at them than dry (in terms of rain, if not humidity) lightning. Probably better to move on regardless. 
	[i]“Seems you’ve got yourself a welcoming committee,”[/i] the woman remarked. [i]“That’s a first, I think. But then again, there aren’t a lot of strangers in Eighfour.”[/i] He had not paid too much mind to the vehicle, figuring it was just a part of some routine (or, at the very least, [i]typical[/i]) pickup run, but Kay's reaction seemed to indicate otherwise. Nevertheless, it seemed she wasn't [i]overly[/i] concerned. Compared to how she had been before the settlement - could it even really be called a base? - came to sight. Still. Odd.  
	His fingers twitched, muscle-memory compelling him to ready up for a potential confrontation, but consciousness interfering. Do not ready arms. Do not halt. Did nothing against adrenaline beginning to flow, but it's not like they could tell either way, or so he told himself. 
	"You didn't mention anything about a surveillance system beyond the perimeter - past what can be seen from the walls. Nor a vehicle at the ready at all times," Enn pointed out. "Don't you think your greeting party reacted just a tad too quickly to be reacting [i]just[/i] to us?"

72:79:32 LNT
(afternoon/early evening)