A Fishy Beginning

As Sarah and Valentina went at it Mal listened to Justin explain some of their history. It seemed they had gone through some hell as well, but it seemed everyone had. Who the hell would enslave people and what kind of people would pay for other people? But oddly, Mallory wasn't surprised though.

"Christ, that's terrible." Mal said. "Slave trading, really? Troy and I got captured by cannibals at some point, even that seems to make more sense than slave trading people. I hope you took care of him. We sure as hell did with the cannibals."

Mal nodded as Justin told her he wanted a normal life for the kids under his care, and that Bar Harbor would be the perfect place to do it. It's one of the things she would strive for. Kids getting to be kids, getting the opportunity to grow and discover things. Although additionally they would have to do work around town when they were old enough. But setting up education was going to be one hell of a challenge, like many things.

"I'm not gonna lie Justin, there's going to be a lot of work after this." Mal said. "And we will take this country back inch by inch, and maybe in a hundred years from now kids won't have to worry about fighting the dead and staying alive because of what we did here, of what we're still gonna do here. Your kids will have to help us build, but I'll make sure they'll be able to enjoy their lives as well."

Mal knew the first couple of years would be rough and they'd have to figure it out as it went. Someone was going to have to step up and lead them alone for a while, like her father did. But in time maybe they could install a council to take over. Mal had somewhat vague plans in her head to run Bar Harbor like a military base in the beginning, it seemed the best way to go. Hell, it was the best way she knew. But they weren't there just yet.

The next hour they went again, Mal with Ziggy and Valentina with Sarah. Each time the girls improved. As they finished the last round it had become time for lunch and it was most likely the girls were probably very hungry.

"Alright girls, one hour break for all of you." Mal said. "Go get some food and take a load off. I'll meet you back here in an hour."

Mal waved over to Claudia to quit. Claudia waved back she understood the message.

"Alright, that's enough ass-grabbing for you donkeys today." Claudia said. "Training dismissed! Now find something useful to do for the rest of the day!"

Claudia had done enough power drills for her group today. They could have the rest of the day off. They'd attack the next night so there was no point in wearing them down too much. As soon as everyone had left including Mallory's group Claudia went over to her to talk.

"So, we make the announcement tonight?" Claudia asked.
"Yeah..." Mal answered. "And no one leaves camp from that point. Let's give everyone who's fighting the day off too."
"Anything else?"
"Yeah, double, hell triple rations for everyone."
"You sure that's wise Mal?"
"No, but we either take the town or we die. There's no going back."
"Well shit, here I was thinking you were soft."
"Oh shut up Claw."

Mal and Claudia looked at eachother and laughed, then sat down and enjoyed the quiet for a few minutes t before joining the others for lunch in camp. Last thing to do for Mal was let Ziggy and Sarah shoot with spotters, but Mal had a few things up her sleeve in order not to make it too easy for them.

Having taken a seat against the tree next to Clara, Emmi and Kelly Ayita looked on as Alexandra took Sarah off to preform the same drill as Mallory had with Ziggy. Watching as they started Ayita took notice of the fact that they were communicating in another language, a language that she didn't recognize. Looking to the left she saw that Ziggy had decided to join them while Mallory discussed something with Justin. "Hey babe!" Ayi greeted with a smile before offering her water bottle to her and patting the ground next to her motioning her to take a seat.

"How was it?" She asked her as she wrapped her arm around her girlfriend and took her hand. Discussing the training for a time Ayita then heard Mallory call Ziggy up again. Choosing to follow her Ayi followed suit and got to her feet before the both of them joined her, It looked as if Mallory was giving her the rifle that she had her training with. Not understanding the joke that she made about Germans not being used to receiving gifts Ayi cocked her neck to the side in confusion.

Standing in silence as the two of them talked Ayita felt her stomach rumble, They hadn't eaten since the previous evening and even then she didn't eat a lot. Thankfully Mallory ended her conversation with Ziggy by telling the group that they were going to break for lunch and that they would pick up in an hour, The call couldn't have come at a better time and it seemed that Ziggy felt the same as without skipping a beat she slung her rifles over her shoulder and practically dragged her towards the food tent. Picking up her pace to match Sieglinde's Ayi watched as Thomas, Ellie, Brody and Carmin began making their way from where they had been training with Claudia to join them.

"Hey guys!" She heard Carmin call as they approached. Ayi smiled and nodded a greeting to the girl as she came to stand next to them along with the others, As they walked Ayi noticed the bandages that wrapped around Brody's head as well as the one that stretched across Carmin's left cheek. Curious and slightly concerned she opened her mouth to ask what happened before Ziggy beat her to the punch. Listening to their explanation it seemed that it wasn't Claudia that had roughed them up but that it was their own doing, The concern building as she looked to the two of them it quickly dissipated as she watched them begin to playfully chase each other around. They were good with each other and Ayi was honestly surprised that they were just friends.

Looking further down the line she noticed that Ellie had taken up Thomas's hand just as she had with Ziggy's, The usual stone faced girl had a smile planted on her face as they crossed into the food tent and gathered their food, Ayi's stomach rumbled again as she saw what was on the menu. Deer meat and Potato's soon rested on her plate, The meal being a common place among her family before the end a bout of Nostalgia hit her as they made their way to the campfire, having come to sit Ayita looked to the others and saw Carmin take a seat directly next to Brody, she noticed the blush in her cheeks as she took a few bites of her food.

"What?" Ayita nervously answered as she heard Ziggy tease her about how Brody had shown interest in her before. "N-No one can.. Steal me from you.. B-Babe." She stammered out, she knew Ziggy only teased her to hear it, for reasons Ayi didn't understand she found it cute.

Taking a few bites of her own food Ayi smiled as she let the taste fill her mouth, The meat was tender and sweet and the potato's had just enough skins left in them to make them have the correct texture for her liking. Swallowing she then heard Ziggy ask Ellie the question. Ayi nudged her telling her that it wasn't her place to ask it, but it was already to late.

Having collected her food and taken a seat directly next to Thomas Ellie took a few small bites of her food and judged the taste before deciding it was to her liking. Her left hand had yet to leave Thomas's and it seemed that their current company hadn't failed to take notice of this fact. Looking to Ziggy as she asked her question Ellie looked to the table as she swallowed her food. "No, That would be a purposeless experiment. There have already been dozens of studies on the matter of body heat between humans." Ellie answered her question, but her tone wasn't as cold and uncaring as it usually had been, a fact that was only validated by what she said next.

"However it would seem that Thomas and I have discovered common interests as well as a mutual attraction for one another." Ellie explained as she looked back to the blonde sitting next to her girlfriend. "I suppose one could say that our brains have decided that we would make good mates.. And... Well," Ellie stammered for the first time in her life, as she looked to Thomas she felt her cheeks go red and she gripped Thomas's hand tighter telling him to take over. It was the first time in her life that she had found herself at a loss for words.

Taking the hint Thomas smiled and brought his hand up to wrap around Ellie's shoulder. "We got to talking last night before heading to bed and even more in the pile before falling asleep, The more we did the more we found ourselves enjoying each other's company." Thomas explained before smiling to a now flustered Ellie. "You guys know I'm not one to shy away from what I'm feeling." He said as he looked to Carmin and Brody.

"Hell no you aren't, Remember back in school that one time he decided he wanted to be friends with Bill and just walked straight up to him and told him? How many stitches you get that day T?" Carmin answered his question with her own.

Looking at Carmin Thomas shot her a look that told her to shut up. "That's irreverent." He said before looking back to Ziggy to give her his answer. "This morning I decided to seize  the day and I asked her if she would mind trying to be more than friends."

Looking up from her food Ellie had recovered herself enough to speak again. "I believe what you said was 'For small creatures such as we the vastness is bearable only through love. I think I love you Ellie, Do you feel the same?'. " Ellie quoted. "How you figured out that I was a sucker for Sagan quotes is beyond me but In some stroke of pure happenstance it worked and I said yes."

Thomas tussled Ellie's hair playfully, an act that would have earned anyone else a swift jab in the stomach. Instead Ellie just blushed harder.

"Oh and Ziggy, Ellie told me about how you offered to take her to Wisconsin to look for her mom and how she told you no." Thomas said as he took another bite of his food, swallowing before continuing. "Well I talked to her about it and I think she's got something to ask you." He said as he tapped her hand under the table.

Swallowing her food Ellie looked to the floor before up to Ziggy. "I apologize for the cold response I gave you before, it was a kind offer and I was mistrusting of you and shrugged you off." She said before glancing to Thomas for a second. "And.. If the offer is still available I'd.. I'd like to redact my previous answer and accept if you'll allow me." Anyone could notice that it took a lot for Ellie to admit that she had made a mistake and as she looked to Ziggy for her answer Thomas could tell that she was feeling nervous by the vice grip she now held his hand in. But he didn't mind, He just hoped that Ziggy didn't hold any ill feeling for her after the way she acted with them before.

Ziggy was going ancient Germanic on her foot, eating like a barbarian who had been starved for days. Something about eating fresh meat after almost two years of improvising from canned goods made her do that. She had expected Ellie to give a serious answer to her question yet she couldn't help but to snicker anyway. Ellie even put a rational explanation to her attraction to Thomas. Thomas seemed more daring in his habits though, a man after Ziggy's own heart.

Thomas had been a good influence too on Ellie it seemed. They had talked about her cold response before and she apologized for it. Ziggy was all too happy to still get her there to see what was up. Still, it appeared as though admitting she was wrong was hard for Ellie, but that was a common affliction among people before. And everyone could better themselves in Ziggy's opinion.

"Don't worry about it." Ziggy said. Her feelings had been a bit hurt by it but she didn't hold a grudge. "I'd still love to get you out there to see what's up. Hey, we'll all go right guys? Abamo's big enough for all of us."
"Abamo?" Brody asked. "What the hell is that?"
"Short for Apocalyptic Badass Mobile." Ziggy answered. "A Land Rover Defender that yours truly fine-tuned a bit to fit today's standards."
"Shit, you're a mechanic?" Thomas asked.
"I know my way around cars." Ziggy said. "And I learned my way around powertools in school. It's the German way of education, you get to try out different things in high school to see what suits you best before you graduate."

After they finished their meals they got up to return the plates and it was then they got asked aside by Carmin. It appeared as though she wanted Ziggy and Ayita to 'wingman' her. Poor girl had a crush on Brody since the 5th grade but had no idea how to make him notice me. Ziggy absolutely loved the Star Wars reference though, remembering when she explained to Ayita they were the galactic good guys who went around helping people.

"Well we're Jedi now." Ziggy said to Ayita. "Remember what I told you about them?"

As for Carmin's question Ziggy thought about it for a moment. But it seemed that anything she could think of involved Carmin playing a role towards Brody which would make the whole thing seem fabricated, which was definitely fuel for awkward situations. Only thing Ziggy could think of was for her to be daring and spontaneous.

"The best thing you can do is be yourself." Ziggy said. "I know it sounds tacky and is probably one of the most used sentences in the world but you can't deny the truth behind it. You're a spontaneous, fun, quirky girl and the best you can do is keep going on the way you do."

Ziggy put her arm around Carmin and looked her in the eyes.

Smiling to Mallory as he heard her explain that there was going to be a lot of work after this and that she was planning on taking back the country inch by inch Justin shifted his weight and looked to her. "I wouldn't have it any other way Mal." He answered her comments with a nod before moving towards the tree to lean against, By his feet said Emmi and Clara who were playing together quietly. "As I said before, anything that keep the little ones safe." With one last nod to the woman Justin returned to watching the kids as they went to training again.

Another hour or so later Mallory dismissed the group for lunch and informed them to return in an hours time. Watching as she then departed for a tent in the distance Justin motioned for Emmi and Clara to get to their feet and moved over to where Kelly was talking to the third girl that was with Ziggy and Ayita. "Hey Sara, Kelly giving you any trouble?" He asked as he shot Kelly a look.

"We're just talking J. What you want?" Kelly answered his look, her tone noticably more confident than it had been when she was talking to Sara by herself.

While he stood above the two girls Justin noticed that Kelly wasn't wearing her eyepatch, an oddity to see when she was around anyone but him, Alex or the other girls for sure. The sight made Justin's smile grow as it meant that whatever Sara had talked to her about while they were alone had caused Kelly to trust her enough to tell her what had happened, she only took the eye patch off if she was talking about the scar or what had caused it. Joy on his features Justin then looked to Kelly to answer her question.

"I was just wanting to see if you two wanted to eat lunch with us is all." Justin responded in his kind and caring voice before he looked to Sara.

Crouching down to be closer to their level as they sat on the ground Justin smiled to his sister and ran his hand playfully along her head before looking back to Sara with a smile.

"Would you like to join us for lunch Sara? My treat." He said with the same smile. Keeping it on his features as he waited for her response.

Looking at Sara as she began to speak Kelly listened as she talked about how her sister was with them in the camp, and how she believed that she was dead before returning. Feeling Sara place her hand on her shoulder Kelly pulled away instinctively and her eyes grew scared for an instant before she relaxed again. "S-Sorry." She said as she shifted back towards her. "To think I used to be the talker of the family." She chuckled half heartadly before hearing movement behind her. Looking towards it she saw Justin approaching with Clara and Emmi, He asked if she was causing trouble which caused a wave of annoyance to pass through her. "We're just Talking J. What do you want?" She said as she shot her gaze to look at her brother. It wasn't like she was purposfully causing people trouble but his words served to place doubt in her mind.

Before long she heard as Justin said that they were going to lunch and was wondering if they wanted to tag along. Kelly knew it wasn't exactly a question posed towards her as much as Sara as she had mentioned to him earlier that she was hungry, a question that he answered by telling her that they would eat at lunch with everyone else. Feeling her stomach rumble at the mention of food Kelly got to her feet and dusted herself off before moving to stand next to Justin as her hand grabbed his. Hearing Sara agree to accompany them Kelly smiled, Even though she was still apprehensive about her the talk that they had over the last few minutes had allowed her to place a small amount of trust in her, trust that was furthered by the fact that Ziggy and Ayi considered her family.

Gripping Justin's hand Kelly pulled her eye patch out of her pocket and placed it on herself to hide her blind eye again. "What's for lunch anyway J?" She asked as she made final adjustments to the patch and looked up to her older brother.

"Yeeea! What we eating? Think it'll be Dear Meat? Oh pleeeeease let it be Dear Meat." Clara rambled on for a moment before feeling a gentle hand on her shoulder telling her to quiet down.

"Dear Meat be nice.. Reminds me of home." Emmi said after hearing her sisters outburst.

"Well, We'll just have to see now will we?" Justin said as he looked between the two girls with a smile. Squatting down Justin opened his arms for Emmi to come in to. "Want a piggy back Ride Em?" He asked as he looked at her and watched as her eyes lit up and her smile grew tenfold. "REALLY?!" Emmi shouted. Seeing Justin nod she instantly ran to him and climbed on.

Getting to his feet Justin used his good hand to keep the young girl steady on her shoulders and let his bad one rest at his side for Kelly to hold.

Making their way towards the kitchen tent Justin looked to Sara. "So Sara, What was it like around here before all this? I mean in the town. You have any fun adventures or anything?" He asked as they began to make their way through the camp.

Listening to Sarah answer his question as they made their way the rest of the way to the kitchen tent Justin smiled as he heard her speak about how what was fun for her wasn't exactly the funnest for everyone else, that the funnest thing for her was reading a good book, specifically Manga.

"Sounds like Kate." Kelly said with a sad tone.

Looking to his sister as he heard her words Justin brought his bad hand up to take over with Emmi before motioning Kelly to take his good one. Gripping her hand tightly before looking to Sara as she continued to speak about how she went to a party once but was never exactly the party goer. Chuckling at her words Justin smiled back at her as he felt Kelly grip his hand tighter, Inadvertently she had brought back the memories of her younger sister who would always sit in her room with a book if no one was around to play with her. "Hey, it's alright Kel." He said as he looked down to her and gripped her hand back. Giving Kelly a reassuring look Justin looked back to Sara as she continued and quickly they passed into the kitchen tent.

Passing through the line Justin had to place a hand on Clara numerous times to tell her to calm down as it had turned out their guess was right on the money, they were indeed having Deer Meat, As well as mashed potatos. Making sure all the kids got a plate and sat at the table with Sara and her younger sister Justin then fetched himself his own plate before taking a seat between Emmi and Kelly, Clara had decided she wanted to sit at the end to be close to everyone at the table. Sitting down Justin made sure everyone was eating before beginning himself, Taking a few bight he listened as Sara talked with her sister about what she had been up to. From the sounds of it the girl that Sara had beaten in the fight the previous night wasn't handing hunting class as well as the young girl, a fact that brought a hardy laugh from Clara as she joined into the conversation as well telling about her past with her father and how he would take them on hunting trips a lot before the end, generally during Summer. It was stories that he had heard before, back when he had finally gotten her to open up to him.

"Okay Clara, enough with the gross talk, we're eating." Justin said to her as he heard her begin to speak in great detail on how they would clean and prep what they had killed.

Before long one of the bikers approached the table and began speaking to Sara, who instantly went shy like a schoolgirl talking to her crush. Looking to the man above them Justin looked him over and couldn't help being a little put off by how friendly he was acting with the young girl, He looked to be in his mid to late twenties and Sara couldn't be more than eighteen or nineteen. Justin's fatherly instincts had long since kicked in due to the care he had been providing for the others and as they talked he eyed the guy. Waiting for him to leave Justin looked to Sara who was absolutely beaming. Listening as she gave a halfassed lie about them staying the night together Justin frowned. 'You hurt her, I'm hurting you Troy.' He thought as he watched him retreat again. Choosing not to bring it up with her in front of everyone Justin then took another bite of food. "It's good." He agreed as he looked to Clara who gave her a lot more lively response.

"This is good! Almost as good as dads!" Clara said with an excited voice as she dug into her food.

As they all began to finish their food Justin took everyone's plate and returned it to the front before seeing Ziggy and Ayi had come in with the rest of the teens and were conversating amongst themselves. To his surprise he saw Ellie smiling and actually engaging in the conversation with the others, and she was red faced as well. The entire scene was odd to him, but in a good way. Smiling to the group as he led the kids out of the tent he looked to see if Sara was following.

"So, Continuing our talk from earlier, So you like Manga huh? What kind?" He asked as he looked down at her. Feeling Kelly grip his hand again he felt her walk in front of him a bit and watched as she made her way to the side with Sara, Raising an eyebrow Justin listened.

"Our sister used to read a lot of manga, she usually liked the slice-of-life ones though, used to make our mom feel awkward because she had no idea what she was buying for her but she would just trust what she said." Kelly spoke with more confidence than before thanks to having her older brother at her side. "Her name was Katey, We always called her Kat though."

Cam asked Ziggy about the Abamo and explained she had experience when it came to cars. Ziggy knew some but there was always room in her head to learn more. Still, it put a smile to her face hearing word of her work got around. Ziggy honestly didn't understand why people would drive around in cars that had not been altered to the world the way it was now. Could she have been a pioneer? Was there a future in this? 'Krüger Automobile Customs, for all your post-apocalyptic needs and comfort!'

"Yeah, I made some adjustments here and there." Ziggy answered. "I had the luck of finding a Land Rover Defender 110 and to have a garage with everything in it at my disposal. I welded and bolted in some plating, secured the doors, put some barbed wire on the bullbars but I have so many more ideas to make the ultimate apocalyptic badass mobile that would even make Mad Max drool!"

Spikes on the car, flamethrowers, sawblades, machinegun turrets... Ziggy's imagination would run wild when thinking about creating the perfect car. She would create the kind of car that could tear through a horde without having to stop. The kind of car you could enjoy a cup of coffee in while the deadheads would bang on the hull fruitlessly because they couldn't get to you no matter what.

"Ooh ooh and what do you call those big American dumptrucks? You know the kind that are bigger than a house and you have to get into using a ladder?" Ziggy continued. "Like, why are we not driving those around right!? Up high and dry, put sharp blades underneath and just drive into herds squashing and slicing up the deadheads? Make a large platform in the back for people with big guns so they can shoot them from above? Mein Gott!"

Something could be said about 'German ingenuity' and 'German effectiveness' but anyone who's ever met a German would know they did not appreciate jokes about that. But Ziggy's imagination knew no boundaries, and she'd give anything to be able to work out her ideas, even if other people would call it stupid.

When they came back to the training grounds Cam then mentioned sniper teams might get up into high places and Ziggy knew where Cam was going with this. Cam was basically asking to tag along and teach them both the way of the Spider-Monkey. Although Ziggy would appreciate Cam's help and the fact she had dabbled a bit in parkours before back in Germany, something in the back of her mind told her it wasn't going to be so easy with the rifles strapped on her. But a little climbing probably was a good idea. Cam went over to propose the idea to Mallory and Ziggy walked Ayita back to the shooting range.

"So basically she wants us to go Spider-Monkey with her." Ziggy said to Ayita. "Scheisse, I knew we should've worked out more, right Liebchen?"

Ziggy knew her physical condition was fine and she could run a few miles without stopping. Yet, she had no idea if she would be able to lift herself up seeing as she had somewhat neglected weight training the last two years. But she wasn't so tall and she didn't weigh that much. Then again, she'd have two rifles strapped to her butt which added weight. But being on the rooftops seemed way more attractive than being on the streets below during the battle.

Ziggy set up both her rifles the way Mallory wanted to see it. She then sat down and waited for the others.