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Dead Men Walking
Topic Started: Nov 28 2014, 02:20 AM (70,891 Views)
Make-7-Up-Yours
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Is that so?
"Sure thing." Willow nodded.

Eli must have been pretty desperate to be asking her first. It was a bad day when she was on the A-team with her injuries. Though Brandon and Emmett were out of the question in their current condition while Annie and the kids didn't have the experience for this sort of thing. She would feel better with Nolan backing her up on this one though.

"Yeah." Nolan answered her silent request.

She thought these guys were decent folk, but she was more than appreciative to have a second set of eyes with her. Ultimately, she didn't know what these guys were capable of -- some of them had the same edge to their voice that Eli did at times.
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
“Emily, you too,” Eli said, turning to the former policewoman. “Go ahead and give them some back-up.”

Eli zeroed in on another one of the newcomers – Andy, Hank introduced him as. Until now, Eli liked to think of Emmett as a big guy, but Andy was just as tall and much wider. A part of Eli wanted to call him fat, and maybe he was, but it wasn’t that he had a gut. Maybe it was that the cliché actually applied to him. Maybe he was big-boned.

“Andy, you seem like a guy that can swing a hammer, am I wrong?” he asked.

Andy hesitated, then shook his head. “You’re not wrong.”

“Okay, then you’re on boarding up duty,” Eli said.

At that, Andy looked to Hank. Hank looked back, gave him a small nod. Eli caught the exchange, made note of it, and moved on.

Padre, you’re good with your hands, so you can get on that too,” Eli added. “Hank, how about you?”

“No problem,” Hank said. “I’m happy to help. We all are.”

“In that case, Riley – is that right, Riley?”

“Uh huh,” Riley – the lady with the long red hair and fair complexion – answered.

“You can help Annie and Kelsey with the rotters, Annie’ll show you what to do,” Eli said. He turned again to Hank. “Is it okay if, uh, Ruby – yeah? If Ruby watches her brother?”

Hank nodded. “That would be good.”

“Good,” Eli said. “I’ll be out in a second to help with the rotters. They’re right outside, you can’t miss ‘em. So go ahead, everyone – you know what to do.”

Finally, he turned to Brandon. One of the few people remaining without assignments.

“You said you wanted to talk,” he said, his voice low. “So do I.”
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Make-7-Up-Yours
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Is that so?
Nolan, Emily, Lowell, and Noah.

That was Willow's group. Two of these people she would trust with anything and everything. But the other two were absolute wildcards; despite being armed and outnumbering them, Willow found herself uncomfortable around them. Hank and his family seemed like a good lot, Hank in particular reminded her a lot of Randall, but the guys that she was babysitting now felt more unpredictable. Though maybe that was just her paranoia slipping through. They had every right to be high strung after being shot at, disarmed, and forced to work with another group.

Willow sighed and watched her breath condense front of her. It was chilly, but the winter wear that she had picked up from Walmart was really starting to do its job. It wasn't below freezing yet, but the wind chill sometimes made it feel like it was getting there. She made a mental note to take after Nolan and grab the next beanie that she saw. It wasn't a long walk to the root cellar -- for a ranch it was pretty small. They were almost there before Willow tried interrupting the awkward silence.

"So, where are you guys from?" She asked in a fairly obvious attempt to break the ice.

I wish Jen was here. She'd probably have said something sooner than this.

* * * * *

The brisk outdoor air was rejuvenating for Antonio.

Because he had been born and raised in LA, a lot of people assumed that he couldn't handle the cold. And his first winter in Iowa was definitely an experience -- yet he learned to love it once he grew accustomed to seeing the temperature dip below freezing. It was a lot more preferable to the hot and muggy summers of LA that just drained the strength and willpower right out him.

There was no shortage of wood laying about either. There were several piles of it just strewn about the ranch. Whoever had been here before was obviously always in the process of adding improvements. It was an encouraging thing to see before the end of the world, but it was even more encouraging to see it now. Having immediate access to raw supplies, especially now of all times, was a Godsend by any other name.

"Here we go." Antonio rolled up to Hank and Andy with a wheelbarrow he had filled with suitable planks of wood. "Did you guys find any nails?"
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Strompy
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More posts, more Busey.
Brandon got to his feet. He was glad they were able to settle things with words, and gladder still to see at least some people appreciated the value of cooperation. This is what should have happened everywhere, people recognizing a common problem and collaborating not turningon eavh other. Brandon was sick of bandits the very furst time they encountered them, every other encounter had just made him more bitter. Then he committed murder.

When he was tied to that chair in Green River, at his lowest point where he almost wished he would die he thought about them, and it came with a realization. He couldn't bring himself to feel sorry for the people he killed, they decided other peoples lives were less important than being comfortably safe. He did have to wonder what the hell he was even doing out here though. He'd kilked at least ten people now, all bad it could safely be assumed, but if the world were still sane would they have still have been bad people? What if by the time they deliver the cure the only people who are left are either killers or thieves.

Maybe killing those people saved the lives of others. Maybe Wendy's group wouldn't have run into anyone else before the delivered the cure and would have gone back to being ordinary peaceful people once they couldn't use "necessity" to justify their actions. Maybe the next people to come through were a complete lost cause like Cory and now that Wendy wasn't there to ambush and kill them would now be free to murder and pillage even after there are no more rotters. He didn't know. He couldn't possibly know. The only thing he did know was that because of him there were now less people left to rebuild. Fewer hands to pick up tools to work or pick up a stethoscope and heal, fewer people to teach choldren, fewer skill sets to solve problems. This life was the only one his skills made sense in, once it was gone he'd be useless again and he may have only done more harm to the recovery.

He wanted to speak to Annie and Antonio. Needed to speak to Eli as well, and to Connor. That all had to wait for now though. He couldn't ignore these people were still potentially dangerous, they needed to talk about that first. Brandon approached Eli.

"What do you think about these people? Riley seems like she could be temperamental but I don't think she's a danger so long as Hank's around. Hank seems reasonable and they seem to listen to him. So long as he's sure about us we shouldn't have to worry about most of them. Not certain about any of them but the skinny guy, Lowell, I'm really not certain about. Could just be he's scared or paranoid or something but I think we should keep an eye on him most of all." Brandon voiced his appraisal quietly.
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
Eli waited around for the others to disperse, which they did. Annie hung around the longest – she seemed disturbed, like she wanted to stick around and say something, but when Riley and Alma seemed like they were waiting for her she had no choice but to summon a professional smile and lead them out.

Connor went with Annie, as did Emmett. Ruby – Hank’s daughter, whose name matched her hair-colour – hesitantly asked permission to take her brother back to the RV, and Eli gave it to her with a nod.

That left Eli and Brandon alone, and Eli was surprised by Brandon’s choice of conversation. It seemed he had cooled off since a few minutes ago. Eli let out a breath he had been holding in, then nodded along to Brandon’s appraisals. It seemed like he had nailed those, at least. His thoughts matched or added to Eli’s own.

“Right, that all makes sense,” Eli said. “Especially about that Lowell kid. I’ll make sure that happens.”

Now, Eli thought, comes the part where we’re not on the same page.

He looked around to make sure they weren’t being watched, then leaned back in.

“But listen to me – what happened a few minutes ago can never happen again,” he said, looking and sounding grimly serious. “Ignoring orders in the field, issuing contradictory ones, going off half-cocked – that’s how people get killed. No more.”
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Strompy
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More posts, more Busey.
Brandon laughed. He didn't mean to. This was serious. He wanted to talk to Eli calmly and laughing at him wasn't going to help. It was something Brandon had suspected but hearing it said so plainly took him by surprise and he didn't know how to react.

"I'm sorry you just surprised me, it's not funny. Wow. Settle in because... there is a lot to say about that. First of all, I was going out there to do exactly what you did with exactly the same back up, I was just planning on doing it without waving a gun in their face and putting them any more on edge. I was worried about what you might do, since you've had a temper lately to say the least." Brandon started by getting the least important thing out of the way.

"Second, and most importantly, you just ordered a thirteen year old to join in a gun fight. I'm not sure if I should even tell his mother, the only real authority when it comes to him, about that. She might kill you. I didn't get to meet him but I'm sure you remember Emmett's brother. They put a gun in a kid's hands and told him to point it at people. Several people died because of that mistake. I'm teaching these kids these things so that if the time comes that they absolutely have to, they can defend themselves, until then we protect them. That's something that's never going to happen again and if you can't understand why it only makes my third point stronger." he continued, his tone not angry but concerned.

How to explain this to him. There was so much he wanted to say and so many ways he wanted to say it. He wanted to laugh in his face, he wanted to jump up and down and scream it, he wanted to punch him. Most of all though he wanted him to know that he was genuinely concerned about him. If Eli thought he was some kind of authority... maybe it was an ego trip at best, at worst it could be destructive self abuse. They were already saving the world, if Eli thought he was responsible for them all then he was torturing himself. Brandon sighed and paused for a moment as he strived for the words. He took one of the vacant seats, his leg had flared up from all the recent activity and standing was an unnecessary trial.

"Before all this I called the guys I drank and played video games with my friends. I wouldn't have had a word for what we are and what we've been through. I'm your friend. That means I'll have your back all the way, especially when I think you might be your own enemy. So I'm telling you, you are scaring me. The way you're acting is a concern. You order us despite having no authority and you recently killed a guy for no reason. If you think you're our leader I can alleviate some of your stress because you're not. Randall was. We don't have a leader. We have friends. We're next to you, not behind you." he said his voice heavy with worry.

If this was something Eli wanted then it was something he had to earn. Right now he was closer to losing them all than leading them. Brandon felt more uncertain than ever about the whole situation. He wanted to stand by Eli but he didn't know if Eli was even of the right mind to accept his help or if he was determined to do everything himself and take on responsibilities he had no right to until he burnt himself out.
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
In Eli’s opinion, he showed admiral restraint by listening to all that without interrupting. Several times throughout Brandon’s speech – and the moment before it, when he laughed – Eli drew blood biting his tongue. His concern was understandable. Eli was concerned too. But Brandon's concern was misplaced, and if it led to another incident like outside, it was dangerous.

“Enough, enough,” Eli said, shaking his head, finally. “Dios mio, Brandon, there’s a lot you know more about than me – building a fire, hunting a buck, cleaning a gun, whatever. But you don’t know people better than me. I been around longer, and been around a lot more. Been around a lot more bad ones, too. I know how to handle them. So don’t be a fuckin’ child. In the field someone has to be making the calls, there’s none of this beside not behind bullshit. The fact that you don’t understand how you fucked up… Jesus Christ.”

He took a short breath, before bearing in on him again.

“Back there, we didn’t know the facts. What if they had a fuckin’ battalion in that RV? You creating discord, and then marching out unarmed – it could have gotten you and Antonio killed. It could have gotten me killed. I’ll say it again, and this time shut up and listen – never again.

He took another breath. Then he started pacing.

“As for Connor – I don’t know what you think you saw, but it wasn’t that. I gave him permission to have my back, that’s all. That’s what he wanted to do. The shooting was over. He wasn’t in any danger until you stepped in and compromised things.”

One final breath. This conversation was just about over.

“You are my friend,” he said. “And I agree, that word doesn’t cover it. Doesn’t come close. But if you have a problem with anything I just said, you an’ Willow are free to go back to Flint.”

He turned and headed outside, leaving Brandon to think about that.

And as he left, Eli thought about it himself. At one time, he remembered that’s what he wanted. After returning the motel after Randall died, after the promise of Chicago was dashed and substituted with San Francisco – he wanted to go it alone, let everyone else claim some well-earned peace.

Thinking about it again, he had to admit – maybe that’s still what he wanted.
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Strompy
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More posts, more Busey.
Brandon shook his head. Eli was deluding himself. He had no authority to tell them where they could go or what they could do. They all had the cure. It was not his mission alone. The longer he pretended to know what was best the worse things were going to get. He couldn't keep ignoring all of them, and Brandon couldn't keep ignoring the warning signs. They could all make decisions just fine. They could all shoot and fight and drive. Eli had nothing they didn't to make him fit to lead them. Randall had one hand and even when he had two he wasn't a great shot, he still lead them well though, because he listened to the advice of people around him. Unlike Eli, Randall didn't seem nearly as sure about anything until he took council. What Eli was doing wasn't leading, he was dragging them along.

Of course Connor wanted to come with them. He was thirteen and surrounded by tough guys. Connor was learning how to fight and he wanted to use it, he couldn't understand the best way to survive a fight was to avoid it in the first place. Brandon remembered what it was like to be a teenager, knowing how to do something and being surrounded by people he wanted to impress or prove himself to. It got him into a lot of trouble and that was when the world made sense. Trouble now could mean death. That Eli thought giving him permission to join a gunfight was somehow different or better than ordering him was sociopathic.

It was precisely his experience with bad people that maybe made him worthless when it came to the good ones, maybe he couldn't even tell the difference anymore, or didn't care find out. He remembered that Eli was the first one to fire after Emily called for them to stop...

"Go damn it, Eli." he sighed.

Brandon began going room to room. He was searching for something very important. He found it. Eli's bag, he bit his lip angrily, drawing blood as he discovered the ominous black cannister wasn't there. Eli was keeping it somewhere else, and he hadn't thought to share that information. That was beyond suspicious. The thing might as well have been a bomb it was that dangerous. For a few moments he just looked at the bag with contempt. He zipped the bag up again as if he'd never been there. Maybe they should all let Eli go off on his own and get himself killed, if he insisted on disregarding his friends he was a dead man walking anyway. Places like Flint or Salt Lake City, if it turned out to be the real deal, might be able to simply outlast this plague. Maybe they didn't even need this cure.

He made his way outside. If he was going to be agitated he was at least going to put that energy to work. These were a lot of walls for a few hands to cover. He could help Annie and the others with that. He found them up to their elbows in guts figuratively speaking.

"Hey." he greeted Annie in a flat tone, trying pretty miserably to mask his frustration and disappointment.

"We may have problems." he added in a whisper.
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
Hank picked up the bucket that Andy had recovered from the shed – a shed which, disturbingly, smelled of biters.

“A few,” he answered. “Enough to get us started.”

In a way, Hank was almost glad to be working with his hands right now. It was a good way to keep his mind busy and distract him from how tense things had gotten so recently. It also reminded him of his old life. His old, old life, really, since he only rarely got onsite in the last year or so. As their business picked up, Andy did most of the installing, while Hank did most of the pricing, bidding, and negotiating with suppliers.

He was also glad for his company. Antonio seemed among the friendliest of his group, and he had introduced himself as a priest, which Hank considered a noble calling, even if he himself was mostly Catholic for his Julianne’s sake. She was the true believer of the family, and often dragged him and the kids to Mass and church-sponsored events.

“So Eli said you’re good with your hands,” Hank said, making conversation.

* * *

“Arizona, originally,” said Noah Peltier. “North Carolina for the last 10 years or so. My dad got a job, moved the family.”

He didn’t see any reason not to be honest. This Willow girl seemed friendly – and pretty, though he made sure to keep his admiration to a minimum in front of both her and Lowell. Her, because he didn’t want her to think he was a creep, and Lowell, because he didn’t want to hear about it later. Lowell and Alma were close, and Lowell was – in Noah’s opinion – overly invested in Noah and Alma as a couple. They had broken up once before, a year ago. It had been Noah’s call, and he still remembered the angry phone calls from Lowell more than the ones from her.

Besides, I’m getting enough shit about Ruby already, he figured.

Multiple times now, Lowell accused him of flirting, said he recognized the look on Noah’s face and that he knew what he was doing – and told him to cut it out. Noah had played dumb, but yeah, he did know what he was doing. He also knew that he should cut it out, because he did like Alma a lot, and he respected Ruby’s dad and was kind of afraid of Ruby’s aunt. All good reasons to keep it professional with Ruby. And yet…

She was sweet, Noah guessed. He liked and admired the way she cared for her little brother, and also liked how she looked when she smiled and sounded when she laughed, and he liked it when he was the one making her smile or laugh. She was young, yeah, but she was also hot. So he kept being overly nice to her, and Lowell kept noticing, and kept accusing him – and he had enough of that already, so he kept his glances at Willow discreet and his smiles chaste.

Same deal with Emily – who was also a pretty girl, but not as. She also seemed tough, not in her appearance but in her gait. Kind of like Alma, come to think of it.

He looked over at Lowell, expecting him to answer next. He caught him sneaking his own glance at Emily. His was more libidinous, though. Noah recognized Lowell’s looks as well as Lowell recognized his. A side effect of being close friends for years.

“Uh, same,” Lowell said, wiping the look from his face when he realized they were waiting on him. “I moved around a bit, but yeah, North Carolina.”

Noah looked away from him and back to the others. “How ‘bout you guys?”

* * *

Annie looked up from her gory work as Brandon approached. He was clearly upset – which meant his conversation with Eli had been upsetting. Annie bit her lip. That was bad news.

“Hi,” she said, cautiously.

A couple days ago, she had been pretty mad at Brandon. After his kidnapping, though, and after his attempt to solve things peacefully this go-round, that anger had thawed. She was seeing clearer now that if this group had a problem, it didn’t start with him.

“What happened?”
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Strompy
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More posts, more Busey.
"New York originally, same town as Brandon actually. We were elementary buddies. Family moved to Iowa when I was eight and I stayed in that hole until a few days ago." Emily summarized.

She kept a hand resting on the back of the pistol at her hip. It was a force of habit. Her superiors told her she should refrain from doing that as it could be received as aggressive body language. Considering that was pretty much why she was here though she didn't see ehy not to do it. It was just comfortable.

...

"We talked. Or I talked and he listened enough to explain why he was ignoring me, pretty much." Brandon said as he filled his gloved hands with nauseating filth.

Brandon didn't know how much to tell her. He felt he should keep a private conversation private. He also didn't know if he should tell her about the stunt Eli pulled with Connor. Nothing might come of any of it and he might only be stressing her out at a bad time. Annie had a good head on her though. She was intelligent and collected, now those were leadership traits. If he did tell her he hoped she would remain so, and not act impulsively. It was her son though, ic there was anything that could cause her to lose her composure it was him.

"Listen I... I want to apologize. Not about getting grabbed. Apparently I'm doing that too much. When I was in Green River, I got pretty low at one point. It made me reevaluate some things. You were right about Wendy and her people. I know now you were right. I want to really apologize this time. I'm sorry." he said contritely as he began applying rotter guts ti the wall in front of him.
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Make-7-Up-Yours
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Is that so?
Antonio smirked. No matter who he was talking to, that was one of the first questions he always found himself being asked, in one form or another. It never bothered him though, he was always amused that people were surprised by it because he was a priest. It was a surprise Antonio could understand -- he knew more than his fair share of men of the cloth, and very few of them could hold a conversation about general construction methods.

"My father was a 1st generation immigrant. Since we were so poor, my father often had my brother and I help him out in his car shop -- both the cars and the general maintenance of the place, and there was a lot of both to be had." Antonio casually explained a bit of his past. "By the time I was in high school, I was practically a certified handyman. Even though my career may have gone in a completely different path, the stuff I learned never stopped being useful."

* * * * *

"Upstate New York, but I was in Iowa for college when everything happened. I only got reunited with my sister less than a week ago." Nolan picked up after Emily started.

"I was born and raised in New York City, actually." Willow explained. "Tribeca. That really posh neighborhood where the celebrities all lived? We were staying at our summer home outside of Mount Kisco when the outbreak started though. That probably saved our lives since NYC was carpet bombed to the ground pretty early on, according to Eli."

Willow didn't really ever talk about how rich her family was. At first it was because she was a little self conscious about it and didn't like to bring it up. But recently she was realizing just how it hardly mattered. All the wealth her family had was completely useless now and most people out here today pretty much had nothing. In a strange way, everyone was more equal now than they ever had been before.

"I didn't know you were rich." Nolan added lightly. "Does Brandon know he's marrying a billionaire?"

Willow was surprised to hear Nolan cracking a joke right now. He had been pretty listless before. Maybe being out and doing something was what he really needed right now to help take his mind off everything. It was helping Willow, that was for sure.

"Nope." She managed a laugh. "It never came up. Mostly because the day all of this started, the money became nothing more than glorified toilet paper that I couldn't access even if I wanted to."
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Strompy
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More posts, more Busey.
"Wait, he already asked? When did that happen?" Emily asked.

She hoped his brush with Green River had maybe taught him to pace himself but apparently npt. He went ahead and asked anyway and she said yes.
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Make-7-Up-Yours
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Is that so?
"A few days ago." Willow grinned happily; but it faded moments later. "It was at his family's cabin back in Colorado."

Nolan thought about saying that he was out getting an engagement ring when they were attacked, but he decided against it. He didn't know how much Willow knew about their scuffle with Green River. That might be more detail than she needed right now. He was also surprised that Emily hadn't known about that either. Another thing he didn't think was a good idea to bring up.

Maybe I should just be quiet.
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
Annie opened her mouth, then paused. The apology took her aback. She thought that might be a point they would have to forever agree to disagree on – she was even ready to move past it. Of course, she was happy that Brandon had come around.

“Thank you,” she said, sincerely – she wasn’t sure how else to respond.

He said it was his time in Green River that got him thinking, but Annie also had to wonder if his talk with Eli had pushed him in that direction as well. Not that Eli would have pushed him there – not on purpose, anyway.

“So what about Eli – what’s the problem?”

* * *

Hank listened to Antonio’s backstory with interest. One, because it was interesting, and two, because the experience in a car shop could be pretty helpful.

“I’m in electrical contracting myself,” he explained. “Was in electrical contracting, I mean. I had my own shingle. Andy and I worked together.”

He paused. It was kind of awkward, asking for a favour when they just met, not long after holding guns to each other. He pushed through it, though.

“Sorry if this is presumption, Father, but my RV took a few bullets in the fight there,” he said. “Popped a tire, at least. You think when you’re done here, you can help me take a look?”

* * *

“So you’re getting married?” Noah asked, surprised.

And she’d only been asked a few days ago, too, he thought. He didn’t think that kind of thing still happened anymore. You know, without the churches and the priests to officiate or the courthouses to hand out licenses. It hadn’t even occurred to him to ask Alma.

“How’s that gonna work?”
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Strompy
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More posts, more Busey.
Brandon inhaled deeply. Start with the worst? Start with the least worst? The way he saw it it was all equally concerning.

"He seems to be convinced that he's in charge. He literally used the word 'order' with me. I tried to explain that wasn't the case and he basically told me I don't know shit and that if I don't like it I can go back to Flint." he paraphrased.

He looked around them to see if anyone was within conversational distance.

"I checked his bag. He's stashed the cure somewhere else." he said quietly.
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