I decided to keep this chapter in one piece so you guys get an extra long one! Enjoy!
S8E02
George was in her office looking over pictures Citizen Z had gotten for her of the crime scene last week. She hated that after seven days she was still no closer to finding out who had attacked 10K or why. She huffed and sat back down in her chair pulling the stack of photographs into her lap as she flipped through them. There were several of the dead man himself, all from different angles. No one had been able to identify him, even with CZ sending the photos of his face to every outpost across Newmerica no one had claimed him as a citizen. An outsider bypassing Altura's security and avoiding citizenship registration and quarantine was someone who definitely wasn't working alone, in her opinion anyway. He had to have had help to get in, and that brought up the second problem: why attack 10K? Why had this man passed by every other Alturan citizen to seek out 10K and try to kill him? 10K was a good guy, a nice guy, he didn't have enemies.
George sighed again and sat back in her chair. A moment later the door to her office opened and Warren came in.
"Hey, how's it going?" she asked looking hopeful.
"Absolutely nowhere." George replied sourly and depressed.
Warren had gotten back just a couple days ago after staking out Limbo. She'd been waiting for Murphy to interrogate him on his dealings with the Black Market and plotting with Dr. Kurian. When she couldn't stay any longer and was itching to get back to tell George what she'd found she was surprised to hear that Murphy had been in Altura all that time making arraignments with George.
"When Murphy was here did he seem suspicious?"
George sat up straighter, "Not at all. And he didn't even mention 10K, and you know Murphy's never been too good at being sly. I would have picked something up when he came to talk to me."
Knock, knock, knock; knock - knock. . . knock, knock. The rhythmic tapping at her door interrupted her from the webchat she was having with Hackerville about the latest upgrades to the Newmerican tech they were working on remotely. Thanks to their collaboration with Kaya and Citizen Z most outposts had running security systems and each one had a generator hooked up to whatever building they used as an infirmary so medical help could be provided any time of day or night. Security was always a key aspect in maintaining safety and the Hackers believed that in another year or two they'd even be able to start installing electrical auto-locked gate doors meaning people like 10K and the other guards could spend less time standing at the wall waiting for a Z to meander by and more time going out with the convoys to protect the supply trade routes. In turn that meant they could trade more supplies more frequently since they'd have more workers to contribute to that project. It was a bright future for them which only made George a bit more irritated at the interruption to her meeting. Especially when it was Murphy who walked through the door.
She rolled her eyes and hung up her video call before turning to him as he sauntered in and shut the door behind him. With the briefcase in his hand and the smile on his face he looked like an old fashioned door to door salesman, only instead of a suit he was still opting for that ridiculous spiked leather.
"George, I hope I'm not interrupting anything."
"You are. But when has that ever stopped you?" she replied though Murphy didn't seem offended. Instead he laughed it off and walked closer to her desk. "What are you doing here Murphy?"
He shrugged, "Can't a guy stop by to see old friends?"
"No, not you anyway. You never leave Limbo unless it's something important or there's something you need." She said clearly hinting at the fact that the last time he'd been there was to steal a pint of 10K's blood. And George wouldn't stand for him sneaking in to assault one of her citizens again. Especially since she was already in the midst of one investigation.
Murphy sighed, "Okay you got me."
She couldn't help but smirk, "Good. Now if you drop the act we can quit beating around the bush and get to business. What can I help you with?"
He moved closer and took a seat throwing one leg over the other and leaning back casually. "How secure is Altura?"
"The Hackers have set up good security in all outposts, they're developing new methods and software every few months, we're hoping for –"
"I don't need the 'Newmerica's brochure' version. I need to know how safe something is in Altura. You're the source of government for all the outposts, you must have files and documents locked up safe and sound. I need to know about your high level security."
"With all due respect Murphy, you don't have clearance to discuss our high level security."
"Even if I have something I'd want you to lock up for me?" he asked with a quirked brow and George hesitated while staring him down. Murphy locking something up meant one of two possible things. The first was he'd created the cure they'd been waiting for. Judging by his new look she guessed it could be a possibility. His red skin did look faded, now it only looked like a bad sunburn. His hair had changed too, it wasn't growing in as black anymore, it was his usual brown and as it had grown out it left the tips of his hair black and his beard too, which he'd grown out again instead of the gotee he used to have. The second was something that he knew would start trouble and he'd rather Altura clean up the mess while he boozed it up with his blend and Talker strippers at Limbo. Either one was possible but was accepting his proposal worth the possible risk?
"What kind of something?" she asked after their long stare down.
"I'm sorry George but with all due respect you don't have clearance to discuss my personal property." He replied throwing her words back at her. They had another stare down while she thought it over. She wasn't going to let Murphy in on all their secrets, after several talks with Warren she knew better than that. And if Murphy thought that he'd talk his way into learning information that critical then he had another thing coming.
Finally, after a long moment George stood up. "Come with me. I've got just the place."
"You never found out what was in the briefcase?" Warren asked her.
She shook her head, "But after what you told me about your discovery at Limbo I know I was on the right track. It's either the cure or big trouble."
"Or both." Warren added, "Especially if Murphy's let it slip to the Black Market that there's a product that they can't get their hands on."
"Do you think it could be related to 10K's attack?" George asked hoping they might be able to take down two birds with one stone.
Warren sighed and sat down, "I haven't worked that much out yet. But something like that happening just a handful of hours before Murphy showed up here doesn't sit well with me."
10K POV
He sat by the bench near the front door of their apartment building while TJ and Charlie threw a frisbee back and forth. They dropped it half the time or missed it completely leaving them to chase after it before throwing it to the other. While they did that 10K had found a puddle by the leg of the bench that was big enough for what he had been thinking of for that afternoon. It had rained most of the day yesterday making his kids little balls of energy and the rain had given him an idea. He took out the bottle of dish soap he'd grabbed off their kitchen counter and mixed some into the puddle water with a broken whisk he'd found in the back of their utensil drawer. It was now only one long oval shape on a handle and as TJ noticed what he was doing their game of frisbee ended and he walked over with his sister following him.
"What's that Pa?" he asked curious about what his father was doing to a mud puddle.
He smirked before holding the whisk out to him, now with a thin nearly invisible layer coating the inside of the loop. "Here. Blow on that."
TJ did as he said and a few big bubbles flew out. Charlie clapped her hands together before reaching for the whisk which made TJ hold it out of her reach.
"Charlie let your brother have a turn." 10K told her which made her pout but he had a solution to that, "Look, that one's getting away."
She turned and saw one of the bubbles that had survived the slight breeze and ran after it popping it between her hands when she caught up to it. Then she laughed and ran back to TJ shouting, "More! More!"
The three of them took turns blowing bubbles while TJ and Charlie took turns running after them seeing who could pop the most before they burst on their own. With all the running around 10K knew they'd sleep well that night but wanted to get them inside before they were too wiped out. After about an hour of their game he noticed the kids started to slow down as they ran after the bubbles and knew it was time to head in. Charlie raised her hands, her silent way of asking to be carried and he picked up his four year old peanut while TJ followed behind them carrying the frisbee and soapy whisk. They had a surprise for Bailey they wanted to start so it would be ready by the time she got home from work.
Addy POV
She and Finn had been enjoying their week away from Heartland, of course they missed their home but a break from all the responsibilities that came with the farm life was refreshing. They'd gone to some of the movies that were played in the community building, went to dinner in the dining hall and most nights just walked hand in hand with each other as they admired the change of scenery Altura offered. It was also nice to see their friends again and catch up casually instead of on a mission or mid-supply trip.
"Hey, we should have a get together with everyone before we leave tomorrow. What do you think?" Finn asked her as they sat side by side on a bench watching the kids at the playground in the distance as Addy rested her head on his shoulder.
"Like a date night?" she asked looking up at him.
He shrugged, "Why not? I'm sure Bailey and 10K would like a night off from the kids. And we could ask Kaya and CZ, if they aren't too busy."
She rested her head back on his shoulder as she thought it over. It did seem like a nice idea. She and Bailey hadn't had a fun night out since they were in college together back Pre-Z. Sure, they'd spent time together since, but a fun night out, grabbing something to eat and getting a little tipsy was something they hadn't had a chance to do in ages.
«»
Addy found Bailey at work while Finn went to talk to Kaya and Citizen Z. George had given them their own building, the one where the original election had been held, that was big enough for Newmerica's next upgrade – television. CZ had this dream of starting Z-TV, a network broadcast from Altura that would be able to reach modified television sets from any home at any outpost. Could you imagine that? She asked herself, having television again?
"Hey Bay." She called as she walked over to the tables. Her friend turned and smiled at her putting down her clipboard before she made her way around the tables to give Addy a hug. Bailey had her short hair pulled back into a high ponytail that didn't even brush her shoulders. She had on a tight fitted white long sleeved cotton shirt under a pair of denim overalls that were shorts on the bottom. Instead of boots or something else fit to run from Z's Bailey was wearing regular converse.
"Are you and Finn enjoying your vacation?" she asked when they pulled out of the hug.
"It's been so nice." She sighed, "Definitely miss home, but the break has been relaxing."
"I'll miss seeing you so much when you go back."
"Actually, Finn and I were talking about getting everyone together tonight. You know, all the couples? He went to ask CZ and Kaya if they'd want to come and I was going to ask you if you and 10K wanted to join us?"
Bailey seemed to hesitate, "I'm. . . not sure. Things are still a little tense after 10K got attacked last week. He's been getting on edge easily."
Addy shrugged still smiling, "That's the perfect reason to do it. Give him a chance to unwind a bit. Let you both relax and enjoy an evening together."
Bailey bit her lip still seeming a bit unsure so Addy deployed some lifelong bestie tactics. She took Bailey's hand and put on her cutest face and dragged out a long, "Pleeeeaaaase?"
Bailey smirked and shook her head, "Okay. Okay, I'll talk to 10K. We'll be there."
Bailey POV
Bailey had just finished her shift at the supply building and walked into her apartment greeted by the smell of flour and something baking in the oven. At the kitchen counter TJ and Charlie were both kneeling on the bar height stools, their hands covered in flour as they rolled dough out on the table. Once they made them into long ropes 10K took out a knife.
"Hands up." He said and both of them raised their hands like criminals caught by the cops which made Bailey stifle a chuckle as she stood in the doorway. Once he'd cut the ropes into little dough bites Tommy pushed over a baking sheet and the kids started placing their little bites on it. TJ opted to scoop several of them up in his hands before plopping them on the tray and pushing them around to spread them out while Charlie daintily took them one by one between her fingers and gently laid them out in neat rows.
"What are you guys making?" Bailey asked taking her messenger bag off her shoulder and placing it on the floor as she closed the door behind her.
"Pretzel bites!"
"Pretzel bites!" they both shouted happily as Tommy brought over a glass bowl filled with some kind of yellow liquid. The kids seemed to know what it was as they started taking spoons and drizzled it over the dough balls. Must be melted butter, she thought. Bailey laughed at their response as they got back to work and Tommy gestured to another tray of finished bites on the counter behind him.
"We already finished one." He told her as she walked over and gave him a quick kiss hello. Then she moved to the tray and popped one of the salt covered pretzels in her mouth.
"Mmmm." She hummed at the crunchy outside and doughy inside. "You guys did a great job."
TJ and Charlie both looked up from their work to smile at her clearly proud of themselves. For a second she thought she caught the same look in Tommy's eye before he went back to helping the kids sprinkle salt on the second batch. She stole a few more off the first tray and popped them into her mouth.
"Mmm, perfect." She couldn't help but mutter, though TJ caught her.
"Mommy don't talk with your mouth full." He scolded her and she had to stop chewing so she wouldn't choke while she laughed.
Tommy chuckled too and kept his eyes down on the tray as he repeated, "Yeah Mommy you shouldn't talk with your mouth full."
She gave him a playful slap in the back of the shoulder and he turned to smile at her, "So how was work?"
"Not bad." She replied after she'd finished chewing.
"No more surprise visitors?"
She knew he meant the unwanted surprise visit she'd gotten from Murphy several days ago. And was glad he hadn't been by since.
"Texas Hatchet Massacre!" came the cheerful greeting from the front door. Bailey had her back to the tables and was facing the shelves so Murphy didn't see her expression of dread at his arrival. It was the end of the day and she only had five minutes left until closing. She'd sent the rest of the staff home early since it had been a slow day but would have kept at least one person around if she knew Murphy would be stopping by. An eye witness would be enough of a reason to keep her from strangling Murphy, since she knew the odds were good that he'd say something strangle worthy.
"Murphy." She replied dully as she turned to face him. "What brings you here?"
"Oh, why so glum?"
She crossed her arms and leaned her weight on one hip, "Well, for starters the last time you popped up in Altura you ended up sedating my husband and stealing his blood." She said knowing that even if it had been years ago it was still new news to her and that feeling of wanting to strangle him started to look very appealing to her.
He rolled his eyes at her comment, "Oh please, that was ages ago. Besides, you shouldn't hold onto a grudge, it'll give you wrinkles. And let's face it, you aren't getting any younger Hawthorne."
"Hawthorne - Beck." She corrected proudly. Murphy faked gagging in disgust as Bailey dropped her arms and walked forward, "But in all seriousness, why are you here Murphy?"
"It's a storage building." He said with a shrug, "I came to store something. . . potentially."
As Bailey got closer to the table she could now see Murphy's full body, which included the briefcase he carried at his side. It was metal and looked pretty sturdy. There was also a tiny light blinking by the handle. She rolled her eyes at the idea of Murphy as a business man in his ridiculous studded black leather, though the look didn't look as bad as it had when his skin was blistering red, but still.
Before she could get a better look at the case Murphy tilted his arm to hide it behind his body more making Bailey's eyes return to his face.
"How secure are things kept here?" he asked all smirking and joking aside.
"Honestly, not very." She admitted, "The things we keep are usually extra things people don't want to throw out but don't have room for at home. Mostly sentimental stuff people don't want to risk losing. Why? What's so important about what you've got?" she asked nodding her head at the briefcase now partially hidden behind his leg. It could be the cure, she thought, though last she checked with Warren Murphy had said he was still a-ways away on making a successful batch. However, Bailey was done taking Murphy's word for the truth and had learned the hard way you had to take everything that came out of his mouth with a grain of salt.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Murphy replied, then took a sigh, "Unfortunately for you your little shack here isn't up to my standards." He said looking around the place.
Bailey ignored the jab as she responded, "Well if it's higher security you're looking for George would be the person to talk to. She is in charge after all."
"Mmmm. Hawthorne that's the best advice you've given in a long time." He said, another thinly veiled insult.
Bailey rolled her eyes, "Hawthorne - Bec—"
"Yeah, yeah." Murphy interrupted waving his hand already on his way out the door. When it shut behind him Bailey took a deep breath. He was going to George, and if that case had anything important in it, it was better off in her hands anyway.
"Actually I did have one. Addy."
"What did she want?"
"She and Finn are going to the Tavern for dinner and asked us to join them. Like a couple's night."
He looked like he was thinking it over as he nodded his head a bit. "Who would watch the kids?"
"I asked Lisa to. She came in right after Addy did. She's been missing the kids since school's taking a break for the summer. She was happy to do it."
"And you asked her before you asked me?" he questioned though his tone was neutral. He didn't seem upset or offended by that, just questioning it. Bailey discreetly tugged on the hem of his shirt and took a few steps back. The kids were so distracted by their baking project that they weren't paying attention to what their parents were talking about. Regardless, Bailey dropped her voice to more of a whisper so only Tommy would hear her.
"If you don't want to go we don't have to go. But it would still give us a night off. We could go for a walk or just have dinner outside on a bench. We don't have to go far." She offered wanting to respect his feelings and knowing Tommy had been dealing with a lot lately. He'd fought for his life before, that hadn't been new. But having TJ there, having him in danger and exposed to it had unsettled him.
Tommy knew that and looked over his shoulder at TJ before turning back to her, avoiding eye contact and licking his lip nervously. He must have been deep in thought, Bailey thought to herself, given that the tip of his tongue was still showing between his lips as he looked at the counter instead of her, his green eyes far away.
"No." he finally said turning his gaze to her, "Let's go."
"Really?"
He nodded, "I want things to go back to normal. For me and him."
Bailey smiled at Tommy before pushing herself up on her toes to give him a kiss on the cheek. But he smirked and quickly turned his head making her lips press against his as he kissed her deeply.
Rita POV
"How are we looking?" she asked Emily who was standing by their vehicle in the Pacifica parking lot. They'd gone with a small group of their guards and Dr. Hastings on her latest rounds to all the outposts to check up on the doctors under her tutelage. They made an extra special stop at Pacifica because Hastings had been conducting research on Talkers and was looking into how their organs functioned. Clearly they were able to digest bizkits but they were dead so how was their body still functioning that way if they didn't even have a pulse? It was the question Hastings was hoping to find an answer to and since Pacifica had the highest population of Talkers it was also her number one spot to visit when she left their outpost at the Rangers.
"Eric and Mariah are already in Altura." Emily responded, "They went ahead per Dr. Hastings orders to help Red set up. She's the only other doctor in Newmerica who's studied Talkers."
George had informed them of the cure their late Dr. Sun had been working on and that Red had been her protégé. The young doctor hadn't been actively studying Talkers since her friend's death but so far she had been the only one to witness a freshly turned Z return to their human state. Altura was their next scheduled stop once Dr. Hastings was done in Pacifica, she wanted to compare her notes to Red's knowledge in person and Red had more medical questions for their former CDC doctor. She probably would also like seeing her fiancé Danny again, Rita thought with a smirk, her guard had come to her a few months ago to finalize plans on when he'd be leaving the Rangers and becoming a full time Altura citizen. She was sad to see such a great guard go but at the same time was happy that he'd found someone in this difficult world.
Third Person POV
Doc had headed to Limbo for the day to catch up with Murphy and get a drink. He seemed to be the only one of the group who liked coming here in his free time. Taking away the time he'd lost his clothes to that gambling Talker and had guts explode all over him, he'd enjoyed his visits to the bar. And Murphy wasn't that bad, sure sometimes the guy did things that were downright low, but there were other times where Doc had gotten the impression that the guy was just misunderstood. No one else seemed to get that, except maybe Warren, or maybe it was just the psychiatrist in him. Whatever it was Murphy was still a fun guy to be around and his club wasn't the hottest place in Newmerica for no good reason.
When he went inside and down the stairs he could already hear the music through the walls and the several voices talking and laughing and having a good time. When he got to the open door and turned the corner he could see Wesson at the bar serving drinks with his usual smile. Murphy was at the bar too but instead of serving patrons he was leaning on the table with his hand cradling his head as his elbow rested in front on him, his other hand nursing a drink he brought to his lips.
"Hey Murph." Doc greeted taking a seat at the barstool across from him.
"Doc." Murphy returned the greeting not looking at the guy as he poured more liquor into his only half empty glass. Doc found it a bit off that he was wearing his dark sunglasses inside his red lit bar and the tone of Murphy's voice gave away that he was displeased.
"You alright man?" Doc asked, "It's been a while since I last saw ya. What've you been up to?"
Murphy gave a humorless single laugh, "Doc you've got no idea."
"Warren still making her visits?" Doc asked sympathetically. He knew Murphy didn't like being babysat – no grown person would – but he knew Murphy liked being on Warren's bad side even less. They had a bond, a weird, apocalypse, my-blend-blood-has-been-in-you type bond and Doc knew that out of all of them Warren was the one Murphy respected the most. Doc didn't take offense to that, Warren had his respect too. She was a very special lady and she'd been through a lot and time and time again only came out stronger than before.
"She was just here a few days ago." Murphy replied, "But I missed her. Wesson here talked to her, then she left." He gestured to his blend who turned and gave him a quick smile before he got back to work. Something in the way Wesson didn't linger on them too much gave Doc a weird feeling, like the guy was nervous about something. But he shrugged it off, he was Murphy's blend, how much trouble could the guy get into when his buddy could control him?
Murphy lifted his glass and downed his drink in one go. Then he cringed and brought his fingers to press against his temple.
"You okay Murphy? Really?" He asked concerned, "You don't seem so hot."
Murphy sighed, "I've had better days."
Then he took off his sunglasses and tossed them onto the bar as he picked up the bottle again and refilled his glass.
"Damn Murphy." Doc said in shock looking at the black eye he had and the cut on the bridge of his nose. There was also a bruise on his cheekbone, it looked like he'd taken one hell of a beating and his lighter red skin only made the bruises look worse. "What happened man?"
Murphy sighed placing the bottle back down and swirling the ice cubes in his glass. "Just some disgruntled customers upset about what they'd lost gambling here." He shrugged, "They jumped me when I was on my way back from a peaceful afternoon stroll."
"Murphy." Doc asked with a raised brow his tone questioning if what his friend had said was the truth.
Murphy raised his hands like a convict caught in the middle of an escape attempt, "Doc please. My head is already pounding, I don't want to cause a migraine by recapping all the details."
Doc let it go. Thank God, Murphy thought as he sipped his drink again. His head had been pounding against his skull since the attack. But they hadn't been customers of his, they had been potential buyers. Thugs he'd been in contact with from a connection in the Black Market. Their boss had claimed he could pay anything Murphy asked for if he could have the cure in exchange. That was the guy Murphy had been wanting to talk to, that was the guy who had ordered his thugs to murder Kurian and his blends when he didn't show for that meeting in person. Those were the guys who had somehow found his place of business and had cornered him before he could get safely inside.
Sure he could have mentally summoned his blends to help defend him, but he'd lost five of them already and didn't want to lose anymore. He'd tried to talk his way out of it but nothing worked. Thankfully he hadn't had the cure on him at that point anymore, it was safely locked away – though that only seemed to make them angrier. After taking a few punches to the face and not giving them any information that helped their boss get his hands on what he was after one guy hit him hard in the back of the head. What he'd been holding Murphy had no idea, but it had been enough that the swing had knocked him out cold and when he'd woken up the men were gone.
His head had been pounding ever since and no matter what he did he couldn't make it go away.
"Brother you might need to see a doctor." Doc suggested.
"I'm seeing a doctor right now." Murphy replied trying to make a joke but his smirk that rose on his face only seemed to make the ache worse.
"I mean a real doctor. Not an amateur pharmaceuticalist like me. See Red, or Hastings. One of 'em should be able to help that."
"I'll be fine." Murphy shrugged it off but when he went to knock back his next drink he stopped mid-movement and clutched his head again.
"Murphy I'm telling ya, you might be hurt more than you think." Doc advised.
Murphy knew Doc only had his best interests at heart, unlike most people, and he could trust him. If Doc was worried then maybe he should be too. Head injuries weren't something to take lightly. "Not Red."
Doc sighed, "Hastings then. She's in Pacifica right now, we could get you to her and have ya back here by tonight."
Murphy pondered that for a minute, he wasn't a big fan of doctors but at least Hastings wouldn't be pissed at him for some past indiscretion. Red would be mad about him taking 10K's blood, or turning him into a blend, or lying to him about Bailey, or for using Bailey as an experiment, or selling her out to Zona and probably a million other things. Hastings was at least a clean slate. Hell, she'd even been left behind by her colleagues who had Zona clearance for that submarine, maybe he'd have something in common with her.
"Fine." He mumbled, "But let me finish my drink first."
Bailey POV
"Tommy, Lisa will be here soon to watch the kids. Are you ready yet?" Bailey called as she helped Charlotte into her yellow feetie pajamas with little purple flowers on them. Bailey had changed out of her work clothes after taking a shower and had put on a pair of dark denim jeans and a white top. The top was partially covered by a burgundy, white and navy plaid cardigan. It didn't have any buttons and instead flowed down the left and right side of her before ending at her mid-thigh in a short burgundy fringe. She'd also dug through her closet and found a pair of brown leather heeled booties that she hadn't worn since before she'd had TJ since the shoes weren't very working-mom-friendly. She'd done her hair as best she could, twisting the ends as it dried so they'd curl just a bit leaving them in nice little waves.
"Almost." Tommy called back as she left Charlie to a puzzle while she checked in on 10K. When she found him in the bathroom with the door open she had to cover her mouth to hide her laugh from what she found. Tommy was wearing a navy blue thin sweater that hugged his muscles, which Bailey enjoyed, along with his usual light grey cargo pants and Velcro boots. He was finishing up shaving and right beside him standing on a step stool was TJ who also had a face full of foam and was taking a plastic fork from the play kitchen and was scraping the foam off his face.
"TJ what are you doing?" she asked through the chuckles.
"Shaving with Pa." he answered like nothing was out of the ordinary. Tommy tapped his razor against the sink before turning to her with a smirk as she giggled and shook her head. Then there was a knock on the door and she went to let Lisa in.
«»
When they got to the Pale Horseman Tavern Addy and Finn were already there. They were sitting at a table that was bar height and could sit four. Bailey assumed Kaya and Citizen Z hadn't been able to come because of work. Those two always seemed to have something in the works, Bailey couldn't believe how much they got done just from a computer and decrypting some passwords and firewalls. So much of the old technology was still accessible, if you were as good as Kaya and CZ were.
Addy gave her a hug and Finn and 10K fist bumped across the table. They talked for a bit before the guys went off to get them drinks and an appetizer to split. Bailey asked if he'd need help but Tommy gave her a wink before saying, "I got it, I know what you like."
Then he kissed her temple before following Finn.
"Awww." Addy gushed as she leaned her elbow on the table and put her chin in her hand.
"Oh hush." Bailey said, fighting off a blush. It was amazing that after all the time she and Tommy had been together, through all the years of marriage, she still blushed at the simplest things.
"So you were able to talk 10K into coming out tonight." Addy said with a smirk.
"It wasn't as hard as I thought it'd be." Bailey admitted, "Oh! I have to tell you what he was doing with the kids when I got home."
As she and Addy gushed about TJ and Charlie, 10K and Finn came back. Finn passed Addy a red Zombie Shiner in a beaker while he had a beer in his hand and rested a plate of fresh made corn chips with small servings of nacho cheese and salsa in the center of the table.
"Nice balancing act." Addy complimented when she saw 10K holding both the wine glass and the beer bottle in his single hand. Tommy rested his beer bottle and the glass of wine on the table before he pulled out Bailey's bar height chair and she hopped into it as he took his own seat.
"You should see me with the kids." Tommy replied and Bailey chuckled. She'd seen first hand just how well Tommy was getting along with his handicap. Relearning how to shoot seemed like nothing to him after chasing around two young kids, picking up toys, changing diapers, bath time, and the million other things that were part of their day to day life now.
As they drank and ate and caught up their topics seemed to get sillier and sillier. No one was terribly drunk, Bailey wasn't even sure she'd call any of them tipsy. They were just high on life, after living through the apocalypse and now being able to unwind and enjoy themselves like this, they all knew how to take advantage of an opportunity like that and have a good time.
"Okay, okay, I got one." Addy said setting down her beaker, "Which would you rather? Have people only talk to you in baby talk or constantly have to repeat yourself?"
"I feel like I already repeat myself." Bailey replied and she along with the others all laughed. 10K had to put his beer down so he wouldn't choke as she went on, "I get so many people in a day that come in and try to push their limit and when I tell them no they ask me why. So I explain it to them and they still stand there and ask, 'you really can't do that for me?' and I can only say the same thing again because I have no other answer besides shouting; 'that's the answer what do you want from me'?"
Finn nodded taking a sip of his own drink, "You want to just tell them to get out but you can't."
"Well I try to be nice but. . . yeah I'm thinking just get the hell out." She said starting to laugh again and their groups chuckling resumed.
Tommy took a long sip before placing his beer down and speaking, "I think I'd go with baby talk because then you can still just get away from people and have some silence. Repeating myself would just be more work on my end."
Bailey chuckled thinking the reasoning suited his personality well.
Then Addy cleared her throat, "So speaking of babies. . ." she began, "When are you two going to make me an auntie again?"
Bailey looked at her wide eyed from over the top of her glass and carefully swallowed her wine so she wouldn't choke as she set it down on the table. "Addy we already have two."
"Yeah and when TJ was Charlie's age you had another, so logically speaking. . . "
"Addy we doubled the number of kids in our house last time." Tommy spoke up, "And cut our free time in half and doubled our exhaustion."
Bailey shook her head and took another sip from her glass seeing the begging expression on Addy's face. Finn chuckled and shook his head too as he took a drink. Bailey knew he and Addy couldn't have children since he was a Talker and she was a blend but that didn't mean Bailey was going to just pop out a baby whenever Addy asked nicely.
"Oh come on." She begged, "You both can't tell me that you honestly wouldn't like to have another baby."
Bailey glanced over at Tommy and saw him looking back at her the same way. Addy caught it and a smirk spread across her face. But Bailey quickly spoke up before the red head could start again, "It's not that we wouldn't like another child. It's just. . . "
"Just?" Addy nudged.
"It's not as simple as you might think it is." Tommy spoke up, "We need to get the kids out of the house, we need. . . alone time. To do. . . that."
"I'll babysit." She volunteered and Finn, Tommy and Bailey all chuckled, "What?"
"Addy it's not like high school." Bailey tried to explain, "Like when everyone said 'don't have sex! You'll get pregnant!' that applies to teenagers. It takes months of trying at the age we are now."
Addy kept smiling, "So what I'm hearing is. . . you are trying."
"No." Bailey said immediately, "But we aren't, not trying, either."
"What do you mean?" Finn asked.
Tommy shrugged, "We're waiting to see what happens. Like some nights if we forget protection or we've run out we don't. . . stop what we're doing. But we haven't been actively going at it night after night. We're just. . . I dunno." He shrugged.
"Leaving it up to the man upstairs." Bailey finished, taking another drink. "If it happens then great, but if it doesn't. . . well, we're still glad just having TJ and Charlie."
"And after Charlie's tough delivery we don't want to push it." Tommy added.
"But –" Addy tried to continue talking them into it.
Thankfully Finn stopped her this time, "Addy." He said in a light scolding tone.
"Fine." She said letting out a huff to blow her bangs out of her eye.
Citizen Z POV
His fingers typed away on the keyboard as he looked at the three monitors in front of him. One was where he was messaging Grrl Boom in Hackerville, another was a lot of the channels and frequencies he was working on with Kaya for Z-TV and the third one was running through the fingerprints of the guy who'd attacked 10K and TJ last week. They hadn't been able to I.D. the guy yet and George wanted CZ to check through the old Pre-Z databases to see if he found anything that would tell them more. So far there wasn't much. Most people Pre-Z were vastly different then the people the apocalypse turned them into. Their mystery attacker had been an average guy, good job, wife, kids, not a single black mark on his record. But obviously over a decade in the apocalypse had changed things. And it wasn't like those years had been documented on any computer. But 10K was his friend, he'd been a big part of Operation Bitemark, and he was a father like CZ was. He turned and looked over at where eleven year old JZ was asleep on the couch and he hated the idea of anyone breaking in and possibly hurting his son. He couldn't imagine what that night had been like for 10K.
Behind him at another desk Kaya was looking at two monitors of her own. One was going through all the upgrades Altura had made to their security in the past few months with help from Hackerville and the other had the lists of outposts and dates when he and Kaya were going to travel to the other outposts to install the same protective measures. Altura was the test subject for technology before they'd expand to the Rangers, Islanders, Brewers, Pacifica, and a handful of others. Some, like High Plains and Old Frontera, declined the advanced security in exchange for spare guards to help with the delivery trucks since that was their most important asset.
Kaya rolled her seat back and stood up taking a break and stretching her muscles. "I'm going to head to the Tavern and get something to-go for dinner. Do you want anything?"
"Yeah grab me something. I have a feeling this is going to be a long night. . . again."
She chuckled before bending to kiss his cheek and they exchanged 'I love you's' and 'see you soon's'.
Bailey POV
When Addy finally dropped all the baby talk their little group got back to the usual good time they'd been having before. It had been a couple hours and the basket of chips was long gone and their drinks were going to need replacements soon. Addy had fallen into her usual routine of teasing 10K and he looked down at his nearly empty beer bottle and rotated it in circles in his hand.
"I can't wait until your kids are teenagers. Especially when Charlie starts dating." Addy said watching 10K like a hawk looking for an amusing reaction.
"It's not going to be that bad." Tommy replied.
"Oh really?" the red head asked.
"Yeah." Tommy shrugged, "She's not allowed to date until I'm dead anyway." He said taking the final sip of his beer. They all laughed and Addy turned to the bar intending to catch Leroy's attention for a second round of drinks when she saw another familiar face that caught her eye.
"Red!" She called to the doctor happily. The brunette turned at the sound of her name and joined them at their table. Addy gave her a hug and Bailey smiled at her from her spot across the table.
"I feel like I haven't had a chance to see you all week." Addy continued as she pulled out of the hug.
"Yeah, work keeps me busy." Red replied with a smile.
"We heard you're engaged. Congratulations." Finn piped up.
Red sighed, "Yeah, it's difficult living so far apart but another week or two and all the paperwork should be in order."
"Out of everything from the old world that had to make a comeback why was paperwork one of the first?" Bailey asked knowing it was just as bothersome now as it had been back then.
Red shrugged and gave a chuckle, "It's annoying but necessary. Besides he's coming up with Hastings. Should be here by the morning."
"Have you started planning anything yet?" Addy asked.
"I haven't had the time. Between patients and training and studying I'm surprised I sleep."
"Heard any good stories from the other doctors?" Tommy asked and Red lit up.
"Oh God, I heard one the other day I swear you won't believe." She said getting into the gossip, "This doctor from another outpost had a woman in labor and her husband was upset that no one was paying any attention to him."
"What?"
"What?" Finn and 10K asked at the same time.
"Mmm hmm. He said he was treated like he was invisible, and that he sat for twelve hours without anyone even offering him a drink."
"Because your wife is having your baby and it's not fracking about you." 10K snapped, "No matter how you feel your wife and the baby are what really matter."
"Did he not see what his wife was going through?" Bailey asked equally offended.
"Why wasn't he getting the water himself and getting some for her?" Tommy asked.
"See, I haven't been through that, not that I don't have an opinion on it, but your face." Addy laughed pointing a finger at Bailey just from glancing at her expression. Obviously this wasn't one of those times when Bailey had her manipulative composure.
"Although." Addy went on, "The perspective of the mother aside, what about the nurses and doctors? They aren't your waitresses there to serve you, they have more important things they're doing too."
Tommy nodded agreeing, "It's guys like that who make women like Helen say all men are scum."
"And guess what?" Finn added, "We hate those guys too."
"I will never forget when I had TJ, how long that took, and it didn't occur to me until after but," she turned to Tommy, "you didn't even go to the bathroom in all that time."
His eyebrows pulled together like she'd just suggested something crazy. "No, what if you needed me? Or if Doc or Red had their hands full and needed me to get something? I wasn't going anywhere."
She smiled and laced her arm in the crook of his elbow and with her other hand rubbed his arm, "Thank you baby."
Finn shook his head and rested his beer bottle down, "I just wanna say, I know I'm not a woman and I don't think like a woman, but if I were that woman I would have left that man."
They all laughed, either from the idea of Finn as a woman, or as a mother or as a mad-as-hell wife. "I mean, I've seen better fathering from the bulls, the goats and the pigs on the farm."
They all continued to laugh as Red went on telling more fresh stories. Addy got up and headed to the bar to ask Leroy for more drinks and get a bizkit for Finn to munch on. Bailey kept her arm in Tommy's and rested her head on his shoulder while the hand that had been running along his arm moved down to his left hand and he laced their fingers together while they listened to Red talking.
Then there was a loud bang and they turned to the front door that had just been kicked in as gunshots went off one quickly after the other. Several people in all black with ski masks covering their faces barged in holding automatic rifles that they quickly aimed at the nearest people who crouched down or recoiled looking for cover.
"Everybody stay where you are!" the one who must have been the leader shouted, "This is a robbery. Cooperate, and none of you will die tonight!" he said as some of his lackies circled the room making sure no one tried to run as others started pulling out spray cans and blacked out the windows.