Werner shook his head grimly when asked if he knew anything about his daughter's whereabouts. [b]"I've tried to look for her when I'm out but... Like I said they've done a good job covering their tracks. Only way I'd find them is if I give up everything I have here to do that and..."[/b] The old man simple sighs and shrugs his shoulders. He was still holding out on the hopes that his daughter may just end up coming back on her own, as unlikely as it was. [b]"And beg pardon ma'am, but the chances of finding a place good enough to compete with Underhaven as a settlement seems unlikely. It's not like no one's tried to find a place to settle before they got here. But between the Cold Waves and the mutants still roaming these halls, it ain't exactly easy for settlers to find a place to call home. There's just a lot of logistics and such that goes into it that we simply can't get outside of Underhaven. But who knows... Maybe you'll find something out."[/b] Werner seems to think about what you said before standing up and walking away, mumbling to himself.

The camp was fairly quiet right now. People were throwing some new fuel to the fire and seemed to be getting ready to make a meal. Water and rations were being brought out. There was a new shift in guard too, though it just consisted of two from the wall being exchanged with two people from within Underhaven. Their equipment looked more or less the same. The only difference was that these guards looked visibly older: as in elderly men. This world was too dangerous to enable the old to rest, but even so it could be a cause for concern if your protectors are old enough to remember the old world. Or perhaps these were the type of people who could survive these harsh conditions despite their greater age. Fear old men in professions who die young, and all of that.

[hr]

Donny tried not to think too much about what Ellie had said about herself and what she does here. On one hand, he gets it. You gotta do what you gotta do to survive, and there's some real freaks in this world. Even Donny has had... Strange urges from time to time. But he's managed to keep himself in check, if only because it was more practical for him to focus on his job than his base desires. Too many young men back at his colony practically devolve into beasts when they lack the sort of focus Donny can muster. When she left Donny looked at the mutant dog. He hasn't seen an animal that wasn't mutated and trying to kill him. Even some of the dogs back at his colony were so feral they're chained up anytime they're not suppose to tear someone apart. Made Donny wonder why anyone bothered to keep them given how uncontrollable they were.

Soon Ellie came back with a small barrel. She wanted two knives for it, one for the person who she got it from and one for herself. Donny scoffed, but produced two of his rebar knives. It wasn't really that bad of a deal, but he notes that next time he ought to just go look himself if he wanted the best price to himself. [color=firebrick]"Aight, fine you little brat. Just don't cut yourself on them. They're sharp, but I never made a sheath for them."[/color] Donny handed Ellie the two knives, handle first. Despite being made entirely of metal they were quite light, easy enough for even a child like her to handle. They lacked a proper hilt but the grove right underneath the blade was dull, to prevent accidents while cutting, and the threaded shape of the rebar that made up the handle gave it some extra grip. [color=firebrick]"Now then, I got work to do. Now that I got some heat and time, I can work my magic."[/color] Donny carefully stood up to gather up his equipment and prepare the area he had to turn it into a makeshift forge. He'll need to be careful as the small keg wouldn't burn nearly as hot as he'd like, but he could use what heat it does produce to make some of the scrap metal he has malleable, which would give him the precious opportunity to shape them into parts he needs to make the rifle operational. 

[color=firebrick]"Hope the others won't mind the noise, because it's about to get busy here."[/color]