The late afternoon soon came upon their backs, crawling through the dark sky as they made a five-hour walk to the next city.  Diana was keeping herself going with some spare foods occasionally, but also being careful with her water just in case seeing James do the same.  While hunger had not truly struck them deep, they always felt a little emptier than usual.  Or in Diana's case, slightly more full than usual.
Upon their new approach heading slightly northeast, they followed along the railroads from the bridge hoping to have a straight line whilst passing through a place called St. Anne which was mostly decimated, along with the overwhelming truth that God was dead according to the many repeating graffiti stains painted in blood.  It appeared to have been a former walled settlement that had been clearly ransacked of all liberties, its past inhabitants all strewn beyond the church central in streaks of red and brown misery.  They soon made a startling discovery that placed uncertainty in their steps.
Far beyond the cursed St. Anne was a new city that had been fortified plenty upon the river that now stood before them.  A town named Momence, its former remnants now torn asunder of its metal shielding to give a clear view of what laid within.  The city had seen better days than St. Anne, but it did not in turn lift their spirits to see a safe place of destruction.  The two churches of the town were ripped and crumbling under, the fast food restaurant a decadent desiccation of any food or safety.  A small nursing center was at least empty of any bodies, but that did not encourage them.
They soon heard the giant rushing waters from beyond the streets, somewhat north of the fast food restaurant as they noticed a small lake closed off to the far east.  A river split Momence in two, wide enough to keep both sides spanning to the point of making them unable to cross.  The road that went across it had completely fallen through and it was too far for James to make another gust of wind to leap across.  The railroad wasn't any better, but it did reach towards the middle where an island now stood.  A large rock formation splitting the river itself into two rippling points, slowly rejoining itself towards the east.
Even more intriguing was the fact that the bare island had some sort of cavern located through its centre, heading further deep underground towards their destination.  The other side of the city was completely impossible, huge iron walls crippled but still barring all visitors from ever passing.  James noticed that one part of the wall faced towards the road and stood out a few feet, giving the impression that it was some sort of drawbridge perhaps to let people through.  But they had not heard a single sound come from within these walls, not a single peep.  The place was long dead.
	"How we gonna get through this?" asked Diana.
	"Not sure...unless you wanna go through that cave first."
	"I don' wanna go through sum dark cave, people get killed down there!"
	"Compared to being above the cave where everything's all bright and sunny to see around you?"
	"Yeah, those things in the cave can see in the dark but we don', they got the home advantage!"
	"How do you know what's in a cave?"
	"People told me!  Back with the slaves this one guy said he went down in a cave an' lost his two friends cuz they got ripped open by sumthin', he don' even know WHUT it wuz cuz he don' see anythin'!"
	"Hey, I'm not exactly great underground too but that's the only way forward.  I mean I'm not sure if anyone's still here but I'm pretty sure there isn't."
	"Is THIS the place we gonna git to safely?"
	"Fuck no, this is just the last town before Beech and anyways I can see a much larger city beyond it.  Not sure what it is but hopefully we find someone."
	"Hopefully...not exactly makin' me feel good."
	"I know, I'm sorry.  Just stay with me and hope we get through without any trouble."
	"You got a light on you?"
	"Sure I do, I'll show you when we get in.  Come on."

With little else to suggest or even to go through the city, they headed down into the caves on the faint hope that it had an exit beyond it, knowing that ignorance was as good a cause for bravery.  The dark echoes of the deep black walls gave them cold shivers resonating throughout their bodies, holding each other's hand as they walked further into the subterranean.  The waters of the river turned loud against their ears, almost deafeningly so, not even able to hear each other's steps as they walked through the moist passageways.
The cavern was at least wide enough for two people to walk side by side, with sharp rocks interlacing with smooth hewn stones carved over the years by watery filth, droplets straining through the walls as they watched their step upon thick irradiated puddles upon their bare feet.  The raptor cautiously turned on his light through the use of his omni-tool, buried into his new arm.
Diana gasped at the sudden light clearly blooming forth, a hot white radiant circle that shined a bright course for him to lead through.  She said nothing except gaze with awe at her odd companion, with James guiding her through being careful to watch over each step of treacherous sharp stone underfoot.  The water continued to rush onwards, pounding against the rock ceaseless with its fury, of unbound currents bleakly dropping through the subterranean caverns.  The twists and turns were treacherous, even with the light on, and at one point James had to lift Diana over a rather dangerous gap full of stalagmites underneath.
As they headed further in, James noticed that the course was usually straight on heading north which gave him some hope that maybe there was an exit, of a natural or perhaps man-made escape passage underneath the city.  Whether this constructed cave was through nature or not, was not for debate owing to the fact they now saw some new skeletons huddling over a shallow watery grave.  The raptor saw a small pool where three people once laid formerly, skeletal beyond hope with brown clothes flowing off in remnants, but the flesh still hung on clinging like the rotting sails of an old ship.
	"Whut's that?" asked Diana.
	"Bodies...why are they around this pool?"
	"Maybe...they died drinkin' it?"
	"I'm not sure...but see the teeth marks on them?"
He flashed his light on them higher over them to see clearly the deep bites upon their skeletons, the flesh torn neatly from their former bodies as blood had long dried out.
	"Something feasted on them."
	"Big enough...to eat us?"
	"Let's not take chances, stick close to me and don't use your gun here."
	"Wh-why?"
	"...because it's not a good idea to shoot people in such an enclosed space, unless you know where you're aiming."

She nodded sagely as they walked on past them, feeling a small uphill climb towards a tributary that flowed through the cavern itself.  It wasn't deep and simply just the river's course pumping through a large enough crack down beneath the island.  The water was not clean but it was cool and refreshing, not that they needed such when in a place so permanently moist and bristling cold.  It almost felt like perpetual twilight, darkness hung and nothing more as James kept on his flashlight, seeing more bodies belonging to both humans and beasts all intermixed with each other.
Harrowed remains long since cleaned fully of flesh with the gnawing of teeth upon skulls and fibulas, clear and deep incisor marks glistening with cold moisture of the surrounding air.  Eventually however, the air became much less cool and a lot less slimy the walls became as they headed upwards.  There seemed to be a point where they began to leave the actual river behind, feeling once again the warm arid dust of the wasteland come sifting through the cracks of the tunnel world.  Filtering the tiniest granules of sand, they were only reminded once again of the desolate place that now waited for them up above.
Things however took a more deadly turn upon reaching a much wider area, low-ceilinged but with large circular space that appeared to be some sort of meeting spot, with a series of networked passages all heading off in various directions.  The raptor looked swiftly over them each with his flashlight before turning it off as he checked his compass, seeing it still pointed towards north at three tunnels all leading to that one direction.  What really worried him was the fact he noticed the remains of animals around him.  Skin sheddings, fur and faeces all indicated it was very much in use.
	"Alright," said James, "we don't wanna hit a dead end so which one should be right?"
	"Uhhh...whut abou' the middle, wouldn' that be straight-up north?"
	"Maybe...I dunno, point is we can't stay here too long."
	"Cuz of all the animals?"
	"Right, you smelt it too didn't you?"
	"Be stupid not to...whut kinda animals you think they is?"
	"I don't know, but I find it weird something can have fur and scales and I don't want to find out what it is.  Do we have any way of knowing which way is which?"
	"Ah-uh...you wanna pick one, or should I?"
	"How are you gonna pick?"
	"...that one."
She pointed to the middle and James could not complain knowing he had no true way of knowing which was possibly the best exit.  He didn't even know if any of them were right, trusting only in the compass, but they hurried their way across the dry area avoiding animal droppings as they headed through the narrow passage, a lot tighter than they expected it to be.  But they persevered, feeling the smooth contours of the tunnel give them ease in pushing through, darkness briefly sent away by the glare of his flashlight now returning.  After ten minutes of careful climbing, they found to their despair that it was indeed a dead end.
	"God dammit," murmured FG.
	"Whut's the point of it then?!" complained Diana.  "Why they gotta have tunnels that ain' gonna lead anywhere?!"
	"I didn't make this cave, I thought it was just sculpted by sands and shit.  Whatever, let's get back and see if there's another way."

They made their way back to the central area carefully extricating themselves from the narrow passage, feeling the smooth stone push against their skin a little too firmly before pulling back out.  James suddenly pulled Diana back in and covered her mouth, making her wonder why before he hissed at her to shush.  He pointed with his other hand towards one of the openings, the sound of something hissing even more coming out from it.
A large serpent's head slowly came out from the barely-luminescent cave, sniffing the ground with a flickering of its tongue.  Eyes sharply glistened in the darkness scanning the room coldly, before hissing back to where it came as it walked out.  Its body was a Frankenstein experiment gone horribly right, a large brown-furred coyote's body with the head of a rattlesnake large enough to accommodate.  The tail was also that of a rattlesnake, shivering its deadened scales as an alert or perhaps the all-clear.
Two more creatures of the same ilk followed on behind it, dragging some large poor carcass freshly killed down through the central cavern.  Snarls and whimpering like any canid they knew came from them, the body resembling that of a just-adult calf with two heads staring mournfully towards the intruders.  Blood streaked across the floor as the creatures pulled it harder to the other side of the cavern, towards another hole oft-seen to the side as the first creature hissed dominantly at them.  Then it suddenly looked towards James and Diana.
They swiftly pulled back behind a rock as it flickered its tongue towards them, licking across the ground barely as it picked up a new scent.  Its eyes sharpened intently as it began to walk towards where they hid.  The raptor pulled out his gun readily to fight, knowing that his position was too tight and narrow to wield his scissors properly.  He waited to see the serpent head.
The sound of a dying animal screamed across the cavern, a howling bleat that came from the direction of their recently-found prey warranting the creature's attention.  Sensing food was more important than possible scents for now, it scurried off towards the cavern they had taken their prey as James sighed a deep breath, silent by force with Diana slowly getting up with him.
	"What was that?" she whispered.
	"I have no idea," he murmured back, "but that thing was an abomination."
	"No kidding...like...like sum kinda coyote-rattlesnake baby."
	"...I know that crossbreeding can happen in my world but normally when two species have a kid it's always gonna look like the mother or father, not...some...weird crossover between the two."
	"Really?"
	"Yeah...like...I don't think ever there's been a crossbreed back in my world but that thing was fucking creepy."
	"Did you see that brahmin they dragged through?"
	"That cow with the two heads?"
	"Yeah...see how it had sand on it, like dust an' stuff?"
	"...you're right.  That means-"
	"That's where the exit's gotta be!"
	"Awesome, least some luck's come for us, let's go before he gets back."
	"Right."

Heading down through the tunnel passing where the creatures had come through, the raptor and the human made their way up towards a winding large passage that had been slowly pushed open over time, largely by its constant use.  Judging from the many skin sheddings of both fur and scale lined up on the smooth stone fragments, they headed up through the right passage as the sounds of screaming mammal came from far beneath, the last guttural cries of a poor mutated calf rending echoes across the cavern.  As they scaled through the tunnel upwards, they soon saw light start to seep in of a fallen evening.
The tunnel was a constant uphill wind circling around slightly to always keep them moving right and upwards.  But eventually they found that it circumnavigated behind the large cavern, seeing bits of it through the cracks before reaching up towards a well-lit region of the cave.  They saw some light now truly from the desert filtering down above revealing a small semi-circular area roughly.  No water was to be found here, and the aridness gave further notes as to its proximity to above ground.  Unfortunately, they noticed two silhouettes of canid reptilians waiting beyond the cave.  Guardians.
The raptor slowly brought out his scissors seeing now he had the room to fight them in as Diana kept close behind him.  She brought out her knife just in case but James motioned a hand back to stop her moving forwards.  She stared at him fiercely with a nod of her head showing she was ready to keep fighting, the raptor resigning himself as he brought his blades up.  Unfortunately, he brought up his scissors too high, and a striking clang came shimmering across the room.
	"Fuck," he mouthed silently.
The two silhouettes near the cave exit suddenly turned, hissing a deep snarl of contempt at what they now saw before them.  The serpentine-canid creatures began shrieking with an alert cry to the rest of the cave, fangs fully out at least half the length of Diana's arm whilst shivering their tails rattling of hot death.  James wasn't going to take any chances, as he turned his flashlight on hoping they would be blinded by sudden light.  The beasts recoiled slightly at this blinking their eyes shut with a filmy third layer never truly closed, as he made his move towards them.
Lunging for the first one that recoiled from his flash, he swung down hard with his scissors as the creature just barely managed to back off from the strike down onto solid rock, smacking steel upon stone as the monster hissed at FG.  A warped barking noise came from his right as he readied himself to turn and strike, but a shrieking noise that pierced the very walls came down upon the second beast before it felt a deep plunge into its left front leg.  Diana tore her knife in straight to the hilt, wounding the animal before it snapped violently at her.
She backed off hastily in time, stumbling on her feet but regaining her balance as the serpent-headed thing flickered its tongue at the child, fangs yawning with glistening death upon their tips.  It stumbled forwards, limping on its wounded leg as she braced her knife steadily, dodging to one side as it lunged in for the bite.  But the child was faster, ready to slash across her right before slicing across the left part of its torso.  It was still flesh and bone even if it was abominable, the monster shrieking a hiss of fury towards the smaller target.

The raptor readied himself against the first guardian, launching straight towards him with fangs snapping wide open and clamping upon his blades, the wielder of which shoved them forwards to guard himself with.  Thick pulsating venom spewed from its fangtips onto the floor, desperate to sink into his flesh as he wrestled with its head, snarling ferociously up towards him.  He pulled out his Beretta from his satchel and aimed towards its head, but the monster recognised the more dangerous weapon and let go swiftly before backing off, causing James to misfire and send a cracking boom across the cavern interior.
Diana closed her ears gasping from the noise, ringing loudly but also temporarily disabling the monsters' hearing too.  The second guardian that now focused on her shook its head clear of noise, twitching canid-like ears on the back of its serpentine head before growling hoarsely at the young girl.  Hobbling towards her, she used the opportunity to pull out her own gun from her backpack before being barrelled over by the beast, knocking her sack down with her but still grappling on to her gun.  The monster hissed seeing her knife skitter off away from her, seeing she was not armed.
It didn't see the older gun underneath, as she stood up fiercely before focusing down her sights.
	"BITE ME!"
	"DIANA NO!"
With a confidence-boosting roar she shot fast at the creature's head scraping past its cheek, the first shot hitting barely anything but the sudden speed of which it felt pain making it panic slightly.  The second shot, which she did a little too fast from recovery and as such was feeling recoil still, went over its head completely and pinged off the wall hard.  The sound of this made the monster turn hard as if expecting another attack, but it gave Diana the perfect opportunity to shoot at the rear, misaiming from adrenaline-shaking hands and piercing the back right thigh.
With a howl of agony, the creature went down limping but furious at the intruder, hobbling even more slowly towards the child as she ran for her knife swiftly before readying herself.  She had little problem dodging other than by her nerves being completely shot with senses frayed from the gunfire, crippling her hearing temporarily as a dull pulsing noise came over everything.  The hissing became garbled and slovenly, as the monster charged towards her desperately to protect the den.
James was blinded but also confused by the sudden gunfire, screaming out for Diana's name when she called out before the shot.  In that moment, the first guardian hissed a scream of confusion, senses set alight before flickering its tongue furiously to try and refocus on FG.  The raptor put away his gun not wanting anymore firing inside the cavern, as he swung a triple-strike upon the beast's head going left, right and upwards.  The left and right it managed to dodge but he caught its chin on the upswing, scarring the jaw as it yelped sharply before dodging back.
His scissors clanged hard against the ceiling forcing him to come back down hard by the recoil straight onto the monster's cheek, which was coming at him mid-charge on wanting to plunge its teeth into his thigh.  But the downward swing stopped it enough for it to go through beneath the raptor's arm, swiping with canine claws as they bluntly scarred past his knee making him wince and turn fast.  Being careful as not to suddenly swing, he made a half-turn before striking down upon the creature's back, blades cutting fiercely into the spine as it howled a shriek of anguish.

The monster hobbled with a crippled back, snarling desperately as it went straight for the raptor's tail who dodged round to face it fast enough to keep it out of its reach.  In a suicidal leap, it jumped onto FG's chest and went straight for his head, scratching violently on his chest with dull digging claws as he slammed his blades bluntly upon the creature's throat, pushing its head up to stop its fangs from coming anywhere near him.  Venom flew spraying out of its tips, hissing potently upon him with hatred for his intrusion as he turned and closed his eyes shut.  He didn't want anything to fly into them just in case.
With only his hands to guide him he kept them on the scissors tightly, pressing the flat of the blades up against its neck as he felt his nanos surge with hot force, feeling his wishes start to ignite upon them.  An idea spawned in his head as he suddenly realised something.  He was dealing with nothing but a beast, and there was one thing that a beast always feared.  His hands started burning.
The monster stopped fighting upon feeling a strange sensation against its skin, the warped blend between fur and scale starting to turn rather itchy for some reason.  Then it felt a scorching deepening pain that made it jump back by instinct yelping as it saw the metal burning, scissors igniting into tongued flames twining once to cross each other.  The raptor slowly got up smouldering through his hands, grinning wickedly in the firelight he now made coursing through his clawfingers, licking down to the tips of his vile blades.
Despite its clear sense of fear for the unnatural flame, the beastly guardian hissed and balked forwards trying to fight him, but the clear sense of unwillingness was apparent in its head hung low.  When it tried to swipe at him half-heartedly, the raptor came down on its head cleaving it in two, roaring a monstrous echo as its skull split apart.  The deadened eyes of cold reptilian strength glared up at him deathly still, the final flicker of its tongue trailing off as its tail rattled feverishly, final spasms of unnatural causes.
James made certain it was dead with a good thrust upon pulling back his scissors, carving straight to the top of its spine to completely sever the head as he stepped back stiffly.  Diana he now saw in the cave firelight hunched over the other dead guardian, her knife dripping bleakly as she walked towards him cautiously, picking her backpack up of things before rejoining him.  She saw him now clear as day, a monster unlike any other with strange burning weapon and eyes glinting like sharp emeralds in the flame bright.
His shadow appeared monstrous behind him, much moreso than anything she had ever seen.  She almost thought it moved of its own will with claws outreaching towards James' head.  But then she heard the sudden hissing of creatures from the caves, en masse as they approached to see their fallen comrades.  The raptor braced his scissors ready as he hurried Diana to come over, taking her hand suddenly.
	"Soon as I tell you to, you run."
	"H-huh?!"
	"Just do it, I'll come after you just do it."
	"N-no, we leave together!"
	"I know...I just need to make sure they get the message."
James brought forth his scissors as he raised it up high seeing the dozen faces of the serpent beasts from the caves of Momence.  A hydra of ten bodies, he cautiously sent a burning spark that would shoot forwards from his left hand, crackling along the floor as it made the creatures back off hissing with some fear, knowing they would not be scared for much longer.
	"GO, NOW!"

She ran as fast as she could towards the cave exit, the sunset sky greeting her upon a good minute of running straight, hurrying with backpack as her breaths turned ragged and harsh in her throat.  She heard the raptor scream with fury as the dozen hissing creatures came at him, or at least tried to.  She wasn't certain what would happen as she made her way up a tall ridge in the landscape.
The sky was blood-red, and soon it would turn cold once again out on the wastes.  She stood a good distance away from the cave exit waiting for James to come with her.  On the horizon far away, was a thin sliver of something grey and mountainous but too far off to make out what it was.  She had never seen the mountains truly before, and almost thought she herself was in them.  But the fact that they were more smooth and lumpenly less rocky than the caves made her think that she was not, despite being somewhere relatively high up compared to where they usually had been.
It took him five minutes to come back to her, scissors still blazing with fire wisping across the metal lengths, holding it like a vile torch of ill reckoning.  He sighed deeply as he came up on the ridge, the city of Momence now long behind him as well as the deep caves infested with slithering furred beasts.  Nothing had followed him, and as far as she saw there were no new bites on him.  He asked her the same thing she was thinking.
	"You got bit?"
	"Nope."
	"Good."
	"Whut happen?"
	"They don't like fire.  A lot of it."
	"Good.  Creep me the hell out,those things."
	"You and me both...hey...what's that?"
	"I'unno, mountains I think."
	"Look pretty grey to me."
	"Think that's Beech?"
	"Maybe, but-"
He checked at his map seeing from the geography that this was not Beech, but rather Beech itself was still a good while away and that judging by the location of this higher region they were in, they were somewhere southeast of Beech itself.  The cave system seemed to connect to this somewhat-hilly range, which appeared to be part of a golf course judging by the layout of the land around him with carefully-select sand pits and much taller hills lovingly sculpted to become dead barest lumps of soil across the landscape.
	"How long were we even down in those caves?"
	"Mmmbout...two hours?" she replied knowingly.
	"How can you tell?"
	"Sky colour, mom tells me you can tell whut time it is cuz the way the sun is."
	"What about when it's winter?"
	"S'not winter now is it?"
	"That's true...alright let's go, Beech isn't far away now, we got past Momence and we definitely went north so let's keep going."

Another hour of walking brought them near enough to civilisation, or what was left of it.  The trek over the hilly region was not uncomfortable, and if anything gave them a good workout to keep warm in the coming night slowly sweeping over the wasteland horizon.  Red began fading into blue, causing a strange contrasting clash between them, the blood in the sea never mixing the two colours together.  As they slowly came up over a hill higher up from the sea level, they saw something finally.  Hope came to both of them, until the crushing despair hit James harder than expected.
Somewhere a good distance away at ground level were some lights of a small settlement, a village perhaps but lighting the way nonetheless meaning someone was alive.  It was the right location for Beech to be, right next to yet another large sweeping dead golf course.  The buildings looked fortified along with a steel wall wrapped fully round the settlement, extending halfway to the golf course before ruthlessly cutting out half of it.  But that wasn't what made them gaze with awe as the last rays of sunset peered over the horizon.  The burning red eye showed them something greater beyond silhouetted against it.
Beyond the small village was the large remnants of a city tall as the mountains.  Diana had never seen a city of such great stature, not one able to reach towards the sky scraping the clouds underneath.  The many jagged teeth of mankind's strength and community, now crippled and broken to lay rotting upon the ruins, crumbling down further to remain a testament of what once had been.  James however knew the skyline perfectly.  Even in another world it was unmistakeable.  The telltale structure of the Sears Tower somehow never fully eradicated with its twin whitened beacons.
	"...no.  N-no no...it can't be...th-this can't be it."
	"Whuh?"
	"...this is...it's...my home."
	"Whut?!  You live here?!"
	"I...I used to.  Oh god...h-hoh god dammit..."
Suddenly a most horrible realisation came upon him.  Seeing the city he had once lived in now ruined beyond saving, a ragged worthless infrastructure that burned deep into his memory.  He knew it was his city, there was no mistake that it was anything but the former city of Chicago.  He went down on his knees and began sobbing without even realising, lost in a horrifying mantra of his own design as he slowly rocked back and forth.
	"Th-this isn't happening, th-this can't be happening my home isn't...it's not dead, she's not dead she's not!"
	"James whut are you doing?!"
	"MY HOME!  MY HOME, WHAT DID THEY DO TO MY HOOOOME!?!"

Wracked with sorrow as his heart suddenly ached, he fell forwards onto his face and stomped both fists into the loose soil bringing up clumps within his hands.  Agony rendered itself through his heart bearing a hot ache he had felt all too often of recent.  What had been once his worst fear before all his travelling, had now come fully in a question he asked himself.
What if...what if this IS my world?  What if...what if I'm back in my own world but I'm in a different time of it?  Am I in the past...back when the nuclear fallout still existed?  Or...or am I in a future?  A future that's started once again...oh god...hoh god it's too real...it's too...I can't do this anymore.
	"JAMES!"
	"WHAT!?"
He shouted up to her with tears streaking his eyes.
	"Whut if it is yer home, so whut?!"
	"SO WHAT?!  I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR MY HOME FOR NEARLY TEN YEARS DON'T FUCKING TELL ME 'SO WHAT'!"
	"Ten?!"
	"I have been walking...a VERY long time.  So...f-fucking long I just, wanted to go back home and now I see it...I see it right here before me and it's just gone.  All...gone, everything...everybody's gone...S-sarah...S-s-sarah...all I wanted was to get back, I just wanted to go home and now it won't even let me see them again!  I JUST WANTED TO GO BACK, YOU FUCKING....HHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGH!"
He screamed without anyone to scream against, no one to hate, no true enemy to blame for this but fate itself.  Existence.  A world torn asunder, a world he knew as far too similar to that of his own back in ancient times.  Ancient...or perhaps too modern.  All he could do was scream at the sky dying off to the deep night, knowing he lost everything.  Not even given the benefit of returning back to his own time but instead a mockery, a cruel painted scene of his home now ruined.  He buried his head to the sand with hands over his eyes, not wanting to open them ever again.  He wept profusely, reverent before the ill-fated wind.
	"Hey."
Diana slowly sat down with him.
	"I'm sorry."
	"...what?"
	"I'm...sorry you lost your friend."
	"Sh-she...hhh-hhhhh...she might not even be born yet."
	"Whuh?"
	"Or maybe...maybe she's already been dead for centuries.  I don't...I don't even know anymore, I've been to so many places...past, future, medieval, space...I don't even know what's real anymore."
	"This is real...I wish it wuzn't."
	"It's real to me...everything's real to me.  But now...now I feel as if I went back in time and I'll never see her again...I can't do anything right...I just...I just can't.  Do.  Anything."
	"That's not true."
	"Huh?"
	"You...you helped me."
He looked up with a face sunken beyond his age, red-eyed and drooping at the cheeks.
	"You saved me.  An' you...you...got me this far up to that place down there we can git to."
	"What's the point...I have nothing to go back to.  I have NOTHING."
	"Neither do I...you see me cryin' any?"
James stopped himself from speaking upon seeing her point, chewing his words cautiously before she added with:
	"We all got sumthin' to lose out here, an' the only thin' left we got to keep is our lives.  You promised you'd get me someplace safe, whutsit matter if you ain't got no home anyway?"
	"What the fuck am I gonna do with myself after you?"
	"I dunno...you ain't dead yet."
	"I want to be."
	"Really?"
	"I wanted to be...until I saved you.  All I wanted was just to get you somewhere safe...and then...just keep wandering out there."
	"So...whut difference does it make if you ain't got a home no more?"

The small clarity from her words made him realise his futility, but on a much more clear sense as he slowly got up reluctantly.  Heading down the hill towards the settlement, they walked on silently with small hope for good news, hoping as the grand silhouette of Chicago disappeared from beyond them.  Darkness came over the length of the wasteland, his steps trudging on uselessly through the desert, deep with heavy sighs as exhaustion filled his being.
The closer they got towards Beech the more intimidated they became of it.  A well-fortified small village with thick iron sheet metal wrapped all around, they noticed guards in specific watch towers made of old gas station signs and totems keeping watch on the horizon.  The door was a makeshift portcullis somewhat reminiscent of Momence's gated design, making him wonder as a voice called out to them.
	"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!"
He put his hands up without even resisting, glumly staring up at the tower's voice.
	"HEY LITTLE GIRL, YOU ALRIGHT?!"
	"YEAH!" shouted Diana.  "BUT I'M NOT A GIRL!  AMMA WOMAN!"
	"UH...OKAY!"
	"CAN I COME IN!?"
	"WELL NOW, MUCH AS I'D LOVE TO HAVE YOU IN HERE SAFE AND SOUND, WHAT'S THAT THING NEXT TO YOU?!  THAT YOUR PET?!"
	"...YEAH!"
	"Nooo?" replied James glibly.  "I'm not her pet."
	"WHAT?!"
	"I SAID I'M NOT HER PET!"
	"OH SHIT YOU TALK!"
	"SO WHAT, DOESN'T MEAN MUCH OUT HERE DOES IT?!"
	"WELL...EHHH...I GUESS NOT!  WHAT DO YOU WANT?!"
	"WE NEED SOMEPLACE SAFE, WE GOT OUT OF A SLAVE CAMP DOWN THREE DAYS BACK, FOUR MAYBE!"
	"YOU TWO WERE SLAVES!?"
	"NOT ME, THE LITTLE LADY HERE!  I GOT HER OUT OF THERE, MADE A DEAL TO SET HER FREE, NOT LIKE THEY CARE!"
	"NO ONE'S FOLLOWING YOU RIGHT?!" asked the guard nervously.
	"NOPE, NOT AT ALL, IF ANYONE DID I'D DAMN WELL MAKE SURE THEY DIDN'T!"
	"NOT EXACTLY THE KIND OF FACE I SEE OFTEN!  WHAT ARE YOU?!"
	"I'M A VELOCIRAPTOR!"
	"IS THAT LIKE A DEATHCLAW?!"
	"SURE WHATEVER,  I JUST WANT SOMEWHERE FOR HER TO BE SAFE!"
	"THE GIRL!?"
	"NO, MY DOG, THE FUCK DO YOU THINK I MEAN?!"
	"ALRIGHT ALRIGHT COOL IT!  LISTEN GIRL, IS HE GONNA BE TROUBLE?!"
	"HE'LL BEHAVE!" shouted Diana back.  "AND I'M NOT A GIRL, AMMA WOMAN OKAY?!"
	"HAH, ALRIGHT ALRIGHT!  SO THEN LITTLE LADY, WHAT HAPPENS IF YOUR FRIEND HERE GETS NASTY?!"
	"IF HE DOES, THEN AMMA TAKE 'IM OUT BACK AN' GIVE 'IM ONE IN THE HEAD!"

The guard was clearly taken aback by this proclamation, murmuring under his breath before replying:
	"Wow, fuck...um...THAT'S QUITE EXTREME THERE LITTLE LADY!"
	"I AIN' TAKIN' ANY CHANCES!"
	"TRUST ME SHE DOESN'T!" said FG.  "WE JUST WANT A PLACE TO LIVE WE'LL DO ANYTHING!"
	"YOU GOT ANY SKILLS?!" cried back the guard.
	"I CAN FIX STUFF!  PRETTY GOOD AT FIXING THINGS, AND FIGHTING, AND KILLING!"
	"YEAH?!  THAT'S WHAT I'M WORRIED ABOUT!"
	"I'VE BEEN WANDERING FOR TEN YEARS I KINDA DON'T CARE WHAT YOU WORRY ABOUT, CAN WE COME IN!?"
	"...LEMME CHECK WITH MY BOSS!"
The small shadow faded behind the tower and the two waited for a reply back, the raptor nodding sagely as he looked at her.
	"Nice move with the 'taking me out back' line, I think they trust you to handle things."
	"Everyone bluffs out in the wasteland," replied Diana, "only difference is you gotta be able to do 'em right fer real if they call on it."
	"Good point.  I wouldn't say anything I'd never do...that's the problem I think.  You don't think this is a slave camp do you?"
	"Why would it be?"
	"Well like you said, I don't know this place."
	"Nah, it ain't."
	"How can you tell?"
	"Place got the wrong colour, plus it smell way better."
	"Heh...I guess so."
	"HELLO DOWN THERE!" said the same voice from above.  "SO MY BOSS SAYS WE'LL LET YOU IN BUT YOU HAVE TO DISARM YOURSELVES FIRST!  HAVE TO KNOW WHO YOU ARE FIRST SO IF YOU CAN JUST PUT YOUR WEAPONS DOWN WHERE WE CAN SEE THEM THAT'D BE GREAT!"
	"REALLY!?  ...OKAY, SURE!"
	"What?!" whispered Diana.
	"Just go with it, give them your gun and if they trust us we get it back like you said they're not slavers."
	"I ain' givin' up my knife."
	"Well good thing you hide it so well right miss?"
	"Heh...righ'.  OKAY WE'LL DROP 'EM FOR YA!"
She carefully put down her backpack and pulled out her handgun along with James, letting his weapons be placed down before them, as both scissors and handguns neatly lined up before them.  Slowly backing off, the gate began to open as they saw the shadowy interior being lit up by new light sources artificially.  He saw some electricity, as well as a few flame lanterns made of steel all hung around the various houses.  The party that met them were well-armoured, but not of slaver attire.  These were less haphazard and much more consistent despite not being made of metal, more like a leather-armour set at least.

Three humans stood before them along with one leader of the group in much more prominent attire, a well-fortified brown clothing with metallic mounts and sturdy anti-personnel armour folds underneath.  To the raptor it looked like metallic parts had been placed on a jumpsuit, but that's not what both him and Diana began to worry about.  It was the human's face, or rather what once had been human.
His hair was half gone, combed over to a shocking fiery brown like burning wood, looking incredibly like a member of the undead with gaunt cheeks, buggy dark eyes and a bony complexion with his nose completely rotted off.  His voice when he spoke was raspy and dead, with a bizarre-looking rifle in his hands almost resembling a hacksaw with a missing blade, the long-top barrel at one end and the handle having strange green computer circuits wired into it at the other.  On his back was what appeared to be a shovel of reinforced steel for a sharpened bladetip.
	"State yer names an' business," said the decaying leader.
	"Wh-wh-...um...f-fuck...u-um..."
	"Whut?  You ain't never seen a ghoul before?"
	"Ghoul?  That's not the word I'd use."
	"Round here that's the only word you ever gonna use about me.  You got a problem with the way I look?  Cuz if you do, you ain't welcome here."
	"I...not...really, I mean I just want a place to stay I just...god I've never seen-are you okay?"
	"Oh yeah yeah, fine, I mean radiation's not so bad fer me, I can take a bath better than most people and other than the skin shedding it's great!"
	"Just...you look...like you shouldn't be-"
	"Look, you REALLY never seen a ghoul or not?!  Cuz lemme tell you I'm perfectly capable of not eatin' yer brains out and I'm not undead, so let's get that out of the way right now.  Besides...I like liver mostly not brain, too gooey, yuck."
	"Um, kay?"
	"Where'd yer nose go!?" asked Diana.
	"Sold it," said the ghoul with a smirk.  "Paid fer a gun once, poor bastard said it'd cost me an arm and a leg...he settled fer my nose instead."
	"SNRRRK!"
She struggled not to laugh, simply adding:
	"Is that real?!  That ain' real!"
	"Sure it is, you ever played that game Got Yer Nose?  Well guess what happened to me."
	"PFFT!"
Now she really struggled trying to keep a straight face of respect.  James however was in no mood simply shrugging before saying:
	"Well I don't wanna fight so just, I'll go quietly...long as we have someplace safe."
	"No trouble?" the ghoul iterated.
	"No trouble promise, just at least give her someplace to be."
	"Alright.  We'll take yer weapons fer now, just get 'em registered an-"
	"H-hold up."
	"What?"
	"Um...don't touch the scissors directly okay, they're...poisonous."
	"Wha?!" said the ghoul.  "Poison?!"
	"Yeah it's um...my own personal weapon."
	"...you made a giant pair of scissors poisonous to touch?"
	"Yeah but I'm immune, not you though, so uh don't touch it directly with your bare hands just get a wrapping or something."
	"Already ahead of ya, Marcus!"
	"Yes sir?!" said the pale young human.
	"Get some protectant wrapping fer these things an' don't let anybody touch 'em, or they'll be hell to pay."
	"Yes sir."

Eventually the weapons were taken, with the scissors now protected by a thick blue wrapping of sheet that seemed more appropriate for handling glass in delivery rather than a lethal weapon of such.  But it made him feel more at ease and hoped he got them back soon, knowing that they were clingy towards their current owner.  The interior of the Beech was at first like any other midwest town, only much more well-reinforced, garage stations at the front entrance with a hefty supply of combustible handy items at one's side ready in need in case of any invasion coming.
The centre of the town was a rebuilt mess of ferrous structures, houses of brick and mortar now replaced by thick sheets of metal, various signs and store fronts all showing off their usual wares.  Various people came back and forth, all either civilians in simple leather rags or recruits of some army in more sturdy trustworthy armour.  Stores that made weapons, sold food and kept general supplies aplenty were among the main thoroughfare of the village keep, the guards around them slowly guiding them towards the north area straight ahead, the ghoul sticking close by FG.
A training square was to their right, a wide open plain that had once been a golf course, as marked by the sign now repainted as TRAINING GROUND where several dusty-faced recruits fought.  James wondered just how many damn golf courses existed in this state, as he watched briefly the sight of various people grappling hard at each other glistening in the dying rays of the sunlight, grunts of desperation in half-naked coverings of skin ranging from dusty chalk to desert tan.  He also noticed one or two other ghouls similar to the one that lead him, admittedly in a lot better condition.
Diana walked carefully behind James and the ghoul, the decaying human leading out in front as the three guards stayed behind walking against the girl's back, eventually causing the raptor to ask:
	"Soooo where we going exactly?"
	"The Manor," replied the ghoul, "you'll be getting yer first medical examination in a long time, gotta make sure you two ain't sick or sumthin'."
	"I'm not sick," said Diana.
	"Maybe not, but just to make sure, don't worry the docs there are good people.  All three of 'em."
	"Three doctors?" said FG.  "Only?"
	"Look, it's not a big place but we have to make do, we got guys training over there, a good store here an' there, sum food an' a few doctors.  It's not much but it keeps us alive out here and that's all we ever want."
	"I guess...so uh, what's your name?"
	"Name's Senior Knight Delgado.  Jerry fer short."
	"Senior Knight?" asked FG.  "What time period IS this?"
	"Period?  The hell you talkin' about?"
	"Well I mean just...you know knight and such that's medieval isn't it?"
	"...you don't recognise what a senior knight is?  Or any of those goons wearing armour around ya?"
	"Nope, I don't even know what year this is."
	"Wha?!  You just come out of a vault or something, it's 2287 you dumb crock!  August I think."
	"2287?  ...wait...does that mean we're in the 23rd century?"
	"I guess?"

James struggled to flick back on his teachings from world history, remembering very little other than the true basics that all people knew.  But he certainly remembered that the fate of his world had ended in a radiant holocaust around the same era.  His misery sunk deeper upon realising an almost certain truth to everything, with no means of denying it any further.  Or no proof evidently thereof.  It all fit just a little too perfectly.
	"What's wrong?" asked Jerry.
	"Just...it just...just miss my home."
	"We all got homes we used to be in, don't sweat it."
	"I just...no, never mind, so you guys still use a calendar?"
	"Well yeah I mean, fuckin' wasteland maybe but we still run on schedule here fer all sorts of shit.  I mean how else are we gonna make Happy Hour a thing?!"
	"Hhhhh..." James could barely bring himself up towards a smirk at that.  "Right...so, you say you're a knight but most I've seen tend to have metal armour."
	"Ehhhh I'm working up to that, don't like heavy armour much when I got this thing lugging around."
	"What IS that anyway?"
	"This, hmheheh, THIS baby is an AER13 Laser Prototype, or 'Aeris' as I like to call it."
A silent sting in his head went ignored in James' central neural system, blinking oddly.
	"Wait...laser?"
	"It's a weird prototype I found before I jimmied up, think it was an AER12 once but that's a pile of shit, I mean using gold alloys for the focusing crystal array come on that shit's gonna get weathered fast out here in this wasteland!"
	"Ahhhh...right."
	"Heh...yeeerrrr not a scientist aren't you?"
	"Nope, not at all."
	"So if I told you that I tuned the wavelength to one-thousand-fifty nanometres by using a second harmonic generation to double the frequency of its wavelength using a set of crystals, and then diverging it to a point of around six-point-three-one picometers to diverge the beam at a rate of which it then expands into a cone......yeaaaaaah yer not getting this are you?"
	"I heard wavelength, that means it uses radio?"
	"Hhhhha ha ha ha...seriously don't worry about it, point is I make lasers kill people and it's really fun once ya know how, I could teach ya if you like."
	"Thanks but I prefer smashy-smashy over pew-pew if that's okay."
	"Heheh, spoken like a true warrior, I didn't get yer name."
	"James Campbell.  James if you prefer."
	"Well Jim lemme show you round, you said you got some skills so I wouldn't mind seeing what kinda stuff you can do, also we got to meet the boss if you plan on staying here."
	"I don't have anywhere else to go so I...guess I'm staying here, I made a promise to Diana and that's all I need to keep."
	"Promise huh?  Good man, noble, I like, hokay come on Jim, let's see you get sorted out down on the Beech."
	"Alright...hey, sorry about being rude back at the gate I jus-"
	"Nah it's fine, yer just an idiot so I understand."
	"Heh...yeah I'm...just...an idiot.  What exactly ARE you anyway, I mean this whole training camp, are you some kind of army?"
	"The only one worth fightin' for.  I'm with the Brotherhood of Steel...Midwest division."
	"Brotherhood of Steel?"
	"We'll just get you all checked out by the docs first before I blow yer head off with any more new info, alright?"
	"Alright."

Upon reaching the Manor, it reminded James of the veterinary clinic where he had foolishly took part in a meal on his first few days on this world.  He rubbed his arm nervously, feeling the cool leathery sleeve-like of his left not comfort him in any way.  Diana was uncertain, for on the one hand she was glad to finally see people welcoming with a more friendly disposition, but she was still on guard always with a hand next to her breast, feeling at the knife lightly just in case.  The interior was not so well-maintained, but it certainly gave a more clinical atmosphere.
A reception area at the front with only one male worker at a computer in surprisingly good condition, a stark contrast to the burnt-out husk of brown walls and decaying fabric sofas to their right in a circle.  A broken glass table laid in the centre, reinforced by wood like a car window done badly as the receptionist looked up, Asian but well-tanned and a surprisingly perfect hairdo of the 1960s greaser, slick-back like a duck in an oil spill.
	"OH, hi Jerry."
	"Hey Khan," said Jerry, "we got two newcomers so wanna call a doc to check 'em out?"
	"Certainly, I...s-sure."
	"Don't worry, he don't bite."
	"Nah I don't," said James apologetically.
Eventually the receptionist checked over any current appointments being made on the computer, a bulky-looking thing that was truly a relic of another century in a different era to James.  Normally the computers back home were incredibly sleek, silver and glossy and barely any different from a TV-DVD player in terms of size comparison.  But here he saw a brick beige construct with a tumorous bulge att the bottom for a keyboard built in, beeping away cutely to itself until the receptionist said:
	"Scribe Sobchak is free if you want to go through."
	"Alright then," said Jerry, "come on goof troop."
	"Goof troop?" murmured FG to Diana's shrug.
The rooms at the back were surprisingly open, several of which were now being occupied either for supplies of various medical tools with more than a few radioactive symbols for James to worry about.  But three in particular were head offices for each of the current practitioning doctors.  Jerry knocked on door number two and a woman's voice came perking through.
	"Who is it?!"
	"The guy who loves to razzle yer berries."
The door opened up and the sudden perky girl that peeked through with a smile was very surprising to see in a place like this.  She bounced like a cheerleader seeing her team about to score, brown ponytail weaved back against its frizzier nature and thick wide glasses almost certainly used at some point to have burnt ants if a kid got hold of them.  Her lip gloss was semi-faded, and her pale skin was only bleached by a pockmark here or there.  She was about to jump and quickly hug at Jerry, before noticing the people behind her and falling back with a squeak, revealing a dull rusty-white labcoat.
	"GUH, J-Jerryyyy!  I thought you were just visitiiiing!"
	"Ha ha ha, sorry babe, business today, I got some newcomers with me that need a check-up, just rolled into town."
	"Mmmph...if you're here on business then say it, now I look all unprofessional bouncing up at the door like that!"
	"Sorry sorry, anyways, I need these two checked."
	"Alright alright...o-oh...heh, you...a-are you...is that, um..."
She pointed over his shoulder at James who added:
	"No I'm not going to bite, yes I'm a velociraptor and yes I know I look weird."
	"O-okay, um...talking dinosaur that's...new um...awwww look at you cutie."
The doctor bent down nearly towards Diana who looked at her oddly.
	"I'm Sally, what's yer name?"
	"...Diana."
	"That's a lovely name, sounds like a diamond, hmhm!  Well um...ladies first I should think so if you could just wait here while I check up on miss Diana-"
	"Yer not gonna put a needle in me aren't you?"
	"Only if you're really sick...and I think judging from how pretty you look you can't be THAT sick hmmm?"

The compliment made Diana feel rather odd, almost panicking on where to look desperate to avoid eye contact before she walked in coolly, strolling past Jerry before they closed the door on them as James waited outside somewhat confused more than usual.  The place seemed to be very well-run but at the same time very dilapidated.  He felt tempted to ask but Jerry popped in with a question of his own.
	"So how'd you find this place?"
	"Someone gave me a map leading here."
	"Really?  Huh, wonder who it was."
	"He's dead so...can't really tell you."
	"...ah huh."
	"I didn't kill him, if that's what you're thinking."
	"I never said you did...that guilt?"
	"No."
	"Good, cuz I'm pretty sure none of us ever went south fer four days so I dunno where you got yer map, maybe talk to the boss about that."
	"Boss?"
	"Yeah he runs this place, you'll wanna meet up with him after yer check-up so we can see about putting you here someplace.  You better be ready to work, don't have no time for no shucksters here."
	"Shuck...sters?"
	"Heh...if you wanna live here, you gotta work, maybe not the girl cuz she's just a little kid but you gotta put some work in if you wanna live round here."
	"Right right I gotcha, I mean...I can work on things like fix things, I used to fix stuff like houses and shit."
	"Yeah?  What with?"
	"Uhhh...once I fixed my boyfriend's mum's sink by fitting in all the pipes I guess."
	"Huh, bit of a plumber are ya?  Heh, maybe we should get you a hat and some overalls next."
	"Hats don't suit me, trust me I've tried."
	"Same here, so we just get you all suited up and maybe...actually you don't look too unfit, you really been walkin' there fer ten years?"
	"Yep."
	"Wow...and to think nobody ever turned you into shoes."
	"I could say the same for you, still walking and not have your head blown off by a shotgun."
	"Pffft...okay, I'll let you off on that one cuz of the shoes remark but round here I'm your superior, so you ought to follow me an' gimme respect fer things I do.  I'm the last thing standing between you and the outer wastes."
	"Yes sir."
	"Hey-ey, call me Jerry, sir's a bit weird.  I mean, respect me yeah but just call me Jerry."
	"Alllrighty Jerry."
Inside the office, which had a bed for patients and a privacy screen still in use with good lighting and working computer, Sobchak sat down opposite of Diana before bringing out a rather old book simply tarnished beyond belief.  But still the pages inside were useable as she brought out a pencil, writing down small notes as she looked over her first patient.  She also noticed in the corner a rather large machine, box-like with its own monitor and wielding a set of four arms holding each a different item of medicinal use.  Scalpel, surgery light, tongs and a multipurpose tool of some sort.

	"Don't worry," said Sally, "that thing won't hurt you, I know it looks scary but he has the softest touch of anyone I know."
	"...it's not a he, it's just a machine."
	"Awww don't say that. you'll hurt his feelings.  Okay sweetie now I'm just gonna have to do a check-up on you and nothing else alrighty?"
	"I'm not sick."
	"I know, but I just wanna see how healthy you are.  Do you have a surname, Diana?"
She gently struggled in her chair feeling rather uncomfortable, which Sally noticed by asking:
	"This your first time at the doctor's?"
	"Mmhmm."
	"It's okay, look I'm not going to inject needles or anything and if I did I would ask you for permission first.  And frankly I don't think you've got rabies so you're in the clear anyways!  SO...surname?"
	"Wallace."
	"Okay Miss Wallace now lemme ask you some things...how old are you?"
	"Nine."
	"NINE well, you're sure growing up to be a lady huh?!"
Her smile was genuine and Diana saw no condescendence from the woman in her eyes.  She was uncertain about letting her guard down but at the very least gave her the credence of medical professionalism, allowing more questions to come through.
	"Have you had any illnesses in the last four months?"
	"Uhm....nope, last time I wuz sick's when I got the fever abou' a year ago."
	"Alrighty...are you feeling any chest pains, aches, migraines, something?"
	"Nope, my feet hurt cuz I been walkin' all night."
	"Hmhmhm...jeez you walked here all the way on bare feet?!  Are they still hurting?"
	"Not really, don' feel sore now."
	"Okay, um...may I look at them?"
	"Whuh?"
	"I just need to make sure nothing got impaled in them, glass or stone shards, that could get you an infection."
The doctor was given consent with a nod as she lifted up Diana's legs one by one and checked over her feet.  Scarred and roughened little black feet, the soles of which were much lighter than her usual skin similar to the palm of her hands, not that one could tell owing to the thickening layer of dirt covering over them.  But for the time being there was nothing infectious and Sobchak seemed satisfied with her health concerning feet.  She noticed however something more alerting on another limb, the girl's arm looking rather badly-grazed.
	"Your arm seems a little wounded though."
	"Oh...um, yeah coyote got an' bit me but I killed 'im.  James gave me a stimpak an' fixed me up."
	"And there's no feelings you've had of feeling weak or light-headed?  ...also you killed a coyote?!"
	"Nope...an' yep."
	"Jeez...well, I mean...surviving is surviving after all but...are you okay?"
	"I said I'm not sick, whut you want from me?!"
	"Nothing just...it's my duty here along with the other doctors to make sure everybody is just fine, both physically AND mentally.  So if you feel any problems, you come straight to me and I promise that we keep it between us.  Confidentiality, swear an oath by it."
	"Really?"
	"Yep, if I broke that I'd lose my job."
	"Okay, cool...I'm okay though, not sick or anythin'."
	"And what about your feelings...or your head rather, mentally?"
	"...I dunno."

Diana slumped in her seat feeling rather awkward and confused, perhaps out of place in a community such as this.  She had no idea what to think or say as Sobchak noticed her awkwardness, saying:
	"Well I think that's all we have for now but I would like to make a scan on you if that's okay."
	"Scan?"
	"Just a small sweepover of you, make sure nothing's out of place.  My friend in the corner's gonna scan you but don't worry!  He can do it with his hands tied behind his back so if you could just strip for me-"
	"NO!"
	"...o-okay, um, we COULD do it later if you want but if you have any problems-"
	"I'M NOT SICK, I DON' NEED TO DO NUTHIN' FER NOBODY, DON' FUCKIN' TOUCH ME!"
	"OKAY OKAY, just...sorry, sorry I didn't mean...come back later when you feel more up to it, if you feel uncomfortable then we can do this another time.  I don't want us to be falling out first time we meet."
	"...yer not my friend."
	"No but I don't want you to hate me considering I'm gonna be healing you if you need it.  Okay?  You can leave now."
With Sally's permission, Diana got up and unlocked the door heading through with a stomping of feet as she walked back to James' side.  She was shaking still from her outburst, loud and clearly heard from across the hallway as they all looked at her briefly before Sally called out for her next patient.  He took this to be his cue as he walked in but as he did Diana grabbed him by the hand and stopped him.
	"...what?"
	"Um...c-can I...go with you?"
	"Huh?"
	"I don't...I don't wanna be out here...with...alone."
She said nothing more but James simply nodded as he looked up at the doctor and shrugged his hands up awkwardly, with Jerry asking:
	"We won't hurt ya kid, it's alright, you just let your friend in so he can get his fix-up."
	"No, he...he won't hurt me.  I know he won't.  He promised me."
	"Really?  ...promised?"
	"Yeah," said James, "I did...can I take her in with me if...that's okay?"
	"I don't mind," said Sobchak, "I mean long as you just sit in the corner and let me examine your friend here I don't really mind at all."
	"Well fine then," said Jerry, "let 'em through come on, let's get this over with it's getting late."
The raptor walked in as Diana held tightly onto his hand slowly closing the door behind them as she sat up on the bed in the corner.  She watched the doctor ask James the same questions feeling more relieved to be near him.  As much as he was strange and not human, she certainly felt more safe with him than with several hulking brutish-looking people in armour with guns on them.  She knew the reason for it.
	"Okay then sooooo name?"
	"James Robert Campbell."
	"Oooh, nice name, alright Mr. Campbell um...how old are you?"
	"Thirty-one."
	"Is that...old or...young for your species?"
	"Uh same as a human really."
	"Okay, sorry just...have you had any illnesses in the last four months?"
	"Well I was in hospital for a while, got really torn and fucked up near-dehydrated with starvation up in the mountains, got healed back up and...well, things happen."
	"Any diseases, sickness, ailments?"
	"Not...really, I mean I don't feel sick so..."
	"How about your feet?  Any infections on them, I notice you and miss Diana have been walking for a long while on bare feet."
	"Well, take a look for yourself I mean...I guess they're much tougher than a human's but..."

He raised up his feet before her looking very much different to that of human feet.  A padded sturdy undersole of scaly smooth texture and three clawed toes, rubs and scratches caused by stepping over rocks with no real damage upon them beyond simple superficial scars upon them.  They looked very well-worn, Sobchak seeing much more a deep history of a journey upon them than anything she had ever seen.  The large claws wickedly glinting black did not help.
	"O-oh...that...sure is a lot of...things."
	"Anything wrong?"
	"No, just...nothing sore at all?"
	"Nope."
	"Okay then you can put them down now...and how are you feeling mentally?"
	"...tired.  Just...really tired."
	"I see...any problems?"
	"Not really, just...need to get some sleep I think."
	"Alright then, well I just have one more thing to ask you.  Would it be possible for me to scan you, just making sure of any bits and pieces that are out of place...if that's okay with you."
	"Sure, I mean, you're not gonna drug me or anything are ya?"
	"Not unless I have to operate."
	"Good, alright then sure."
	"Sit up on the table and I'll get the Auto-Doc going so if you could just undress for me please."
Diana shifted from the bed as James hopped on top, laying down firmly after pulling the curtain around him and disrobing carefully leaving his jeans on the side.  Sobchak started up the auto-doc, the machine slowly hovering its way over to him with a rather menacing aura to it.  The raptor called out more to assert himself than anything:
	"Diana, if this lady injects me with anything, you know what to do."
She nodded firmly making Sally quite nervous, wondering what exactly was the history between these two as she watched the auto-doc fade behind the curtain, which to its credit did not use one of its many "hands" to do the job.  Scanning with a modified light, it blinkered on a turquoise-coloured beam before sweeping it over James' body, miniature bits of coding could be seen on his body reflected from the light, ones and zeros trickling past with the odd letter here or there in some unknown syntax.  It made him quite nervous to see such as he laid back and simply waited.
The scan examination did not last long, and after a good few minutes of body reading up and down with the probably-radioactive light pouring into his body minutely, the auto-doc stopped and moved back towards the corner by a small propulsion jet underneath.  Soon the CRT terminal on the machine began feeding out a stream of data onto perforated parchment, old printing paper that still seemed rather sharp to read as she looked over James' various ailments.
A diagram of his body had been printed out with scrutinising detail showing his various organs and approximate sizes of such, but what really intrigued her the most was his left arm.  A bizarre fray of wires and sinew that most certainly were not organic as she knew them to be, or at least according to the machine as being "anomaly registered".  She also saw the same sort of anomaly along his spine and even inside his brain, and while there were twice as many blood vessels by her count being scanned up by the machine, nothing seemed to be particularly life-threatening.
	"Are you aware that your arm is-"
	"Fake, yes," said James, "it got replaced."
	"Oh...ooookay that's good, you have quite a lot of blood vessels but you're very like a human in your anatomy."
	"Is that a compliment?"
	"I suppose!  I mean you SEEM healthy but I do notice the marks of an operation on you previously...must be at least six months."
	"Yeah, something like that."
	"Well if you're not feeling unwell at all I guess you're fine okay put your clothes back on, we're done."
The raptor got up and redressed himself before being allowed to exit the doctor's office, meeting back with Jerry after both had been given a clean bill of health, or at least what passed for a clean bill in this wasteland.

Soon the two newcomers were taken up towards the northeast quadrant of the village which now overlooked the training camp clearly, a perfect viewpoint for an HQ.  James recognised it as a junior high school despite its art nouveau design of brick-then-glass-then-brick walls lining up around the central building.  In the lackluster light of eveningtide it more resembled a fort than any school he ever knew, but it was a well-secured place.
A large campus of at least three buildings all nestling together, the torn parking lots were a testament to this place's standing of being 150x140 feet long and wide.  The interior was most certainly reminiscent of old school days, the raptor harkening back to the only school he ever knew.  Stockwell Park.  The one year he had ever been anywhere near a formal education was a year vaguely forgotten in the midst of his memories, but the sight of the junior high school brought him back briefly upon entering it.
Wide halls filled with crude graffiti and broken lockers, a lunch hall big enough to hold a full camp of people, a gymnasium for an even greater size of which could make anyone's voice boom like the greatest giant upon delivering the sweetest slamdunk.  As much as he recognised it had been a school, there had also been evidence of the Brotherhood of Steel appropriating it.  The few lockers that still stood in the gymnasium showers had been given names, purposefully placed for recruits to use.  Likewise the gymnasium had been repurposed to become a shooting range with targets down the field.
The mess hall was still given its purpose of feeding its people, despite a much smaller group than the original few hundred or so pupils that would be using it back then, but the soldiers had an appetite to match.  Even if the food seemed to be not particularly the most nourishing of feasts.  Heading upwards through hallways and reaffirmed classrooms now being used to teach people on another world altogether, they found their way towards the principal's office.  Or in this case, the lead boss of the entire village and its garrison.
The classrooms while overcome with barred-up windows and bare floors with matting over cracked carpet linoleum, still had their purpose in a variety of lessons for both children and adults.  All in all James was impressed to see a town work so perfectly, so professionally out here in the wastes.  He almost expected to see a frontier town ruthless in its give and take, but here he saw people working, people feeding, people learning to become useful in today's society.  It gave him some small hope that maybe he could live a life here, for a little while.
As they approached the principal's office, they noticed the original name had been burned out brusquely giving a new name altogether, scorched in deep black on the door.  Paladin's Office, reinforced with heavy steel from its old wooden foundations to become something much stronger, and fearsome to boot.  The raptor leaned over to ask:
	"What's a paladin?"
	"I'unno," shrugged Diana.
	"It means the boss who runs this place," said Jerry answering, "now listen up cuz I got only one rule fer you two when we do this.  Do NOT...call him anything except sir."
	"Okay."
	"Good."
He knocked on the door in a particular lyric, rapping his bone knuckles upon it as a voice came from within, deep with authority yet oddly melodic and low-pitched.
	"Who is it?!"
	"Senior Knight Delgado sir, reporting with two newcomers to introduce!"
	"...they checked out good?"
	"Clean as a whistle, these folks got outta germsville before anythin' bit, kid and her guardian."
	"Send them in."

Upon opening the door, they both stared with confusion at who waited for them on the other side.  While the office had once been completely ransacked in ruin of its former owner, the Brotherhood of Steel's head chief was most certainly claiming it as his own.  Or rather, her according to what they saw.  On the other side of a refurbished desk, carefully polished over with great care and dedication among four walls of various shelving, was a hulking mass of powerful armoured steel in which a woman now sat in.  A black bald woman with shaven head completely, her eyes staring upon them cool and darkly.
To their left was a personal computer, to their right was a small stockade of weaponry including an assault rifle, a shotgun and a baseball bat heavily restored to absolute glossy perfection.  Behind her was a flag of pure white, with a blue series of symbols within containing a sword raised skywards with a pair of wings, as well as three gears grinding behind the sword's blade in the background.  It was an oddly peaceful-looking symbol, perhaps because of the colouring as the woman spoke to them promptly, hands clasped in steel gauntlets.
	"Name?"
	"Uh, James Campbell."
	"Mmhmm, and you?"
	"Diana Wallace."
	"You two came together?"
	"Yeah," said James, "we've been walking north for at least four days and found this place."
	"I see.  I'm Darryl Jeffries.  Junior Paladin Darryl Jeffries."
	"...Darryl?"
The woman leered in with a piercing stare before standing up, only slightly taller than James but still holding much more dominating presence in addition to the power armour.  The shoulderpads were like the top part of a whole metal sleeve covering the entire arm, not different in pieces but all connected fully.  The waist had a metallic six-pack look giving it the impression of strength reminiscent of a crocodolian's front belly, whilst the top part was a single armoured plate held in place by both shoulderpads and an additional steel chain wrapping across the left breast.  The chief let silence hang in the air as if daring somebody to take it.
	"You find something funny 'bout my name?"
	"No...just...just not a name I've heard in a long-ass time or anything."
	"Good."
Paladin Jeffries sat back down with hands upon her desk.
	"Firstly may I welcome you to the Beech, where we strive to build our community ever watchful underneath the might and protection of the Brotherhood of Steel, Midwest Division.  Secondly, for whatever reason you're here, you have only three rules to follow here.  Do as you are told, never betray us, and you must always call me sir."
	"Sir?"
	"Yes.  If you can't follow any of these then I will escort you out of this village myself and you can just keep on walking cuz I ain't got no time to spare on disciplining people who can't play ball.  Is that understood?"
	"...yes sir."
	"Mmhmm," affirmed Diana, "got it...sir."
	"Good.  Delgado?"
	"Yes sir?" said Jerry.
	"Take Mr. Campbell under your wing and find him a nice spot to be.  You seem to be quite a fighter judging by the way you look."
	"I haven't died yet so..." James shrugged.  "I can handle things out there pretty well."
	"Good, maybe we can use you if you're willing to join our ranks as being beyond a civilian."
	"What about Diana?"
	"She'll be safe here, we have a school and housing for all newcomers of every age and trusted guardians."
	"Well...okay but...I mean might as well make myself useful but-"
	"Aren't you gonna ask 'em?" said the little lady.
	"Huh?"
	"Thuh OTHER thing that you promised me?"
	"OH, right um, listen, can I ask you something, ma-um, s-sir?"
	"...what?"

The paladin said this tersely as James nervously rubbed his neck, feeling as if he was about to ask permission to go to a late-night party after curfew.  He wasn't sure if it was due to the school atmosphere or the stern eyes of the commanding officer militaristically coming down on him, but either way he felt as if he had spoken out of turn.
	"See, Diana here, she...came from a slave camp I rescued her from and I...well...sorta promised her that I could get her family out of there if we found somebody I mean you all got weapons and armour on you so-"
	"How far is this camp?"
	"...four days travel, down south."
	"Hmm...sorry, can't do it."
	"Wh-...wh-wh-...what?"
	"Can't do it, I can tell you now that we can't, least not for a good while."
	"But-what-you...you have guns and people out there hulking in steel, why can't you help?!"
	"We may be well-armoured but not well-equipped, least not for desert treks especially considering the path beyond south.  How big is this slave camp?"
	"Maybe...god um...si-sixty-seven guards?"
	"Yeah, no we don't have the manpower for that."
	"B-but there are slaves down there, we could jus-"
	"I SAID!  That we don't have the manpower for that, I do not like repeating myself James Campbell.  However, if you give the details to Senior Knight Delgado he can log them in a report and I will pass it on to higher-ups where hopefully we may employ a substantial team from other villages, in say about two-to-three months."
	"WHA-two months?!"
	"MY MOM MIGHT BE DEAD THEN!" shrieked Diana.  "YOU HAVE TO HELP US NOW, SHE MIGHT NOT MAKE IT!"
	"And that is unfortunate," said Jeffries, "so let's pray that they will.  You can't expect people to just help you immediately out of the kindness of their heart, that's just stupid.  Stupid gets you killed out here."
	"Aren't you like, people who protect people or sumthin'?!  Why you ain't gonna help, you got all this an' you say NO!?"
	"We are protectors, but we're also not idiots and I'm not sending out every troop underneath my command to fight a slave camp four days away, not when I have this place to protect here which is of definite importance as our base.  You have to understand I have to look after everybody, not just people who come here especially after such a long way."
	"But-"
	"I will put it under report and THEN it will be processed and any protest you make will NOT make it go any faster now is that clear?!"
	"...you...y-you...you ain' even gonna help us?  You not...you not gonna do anythin' aren't you?  You...you got all these guns an' people a-a-an' you just sit here like sum...like sum stupid..."
She turned towards James with a look of peerless outrage blistering in her cheeks.
	"You promised...y-you promised you'd...h-help me save her."
	"I know," said James, "I know just, listen, I can find a way I jus-"
	"NOOO!"  Her shriek pierced the room.  "YOU DON' KNOW ANYTHIN', YOU JUST A STUPID-ASS BITCH WHO THINK THE WORLD GONNA DO WHUT YOU WANT!  THAT GOES FER YOU TOO!"
Diana pointed fiercely at the paladin with indignation welling up in her tearstruck face.  Darryl did not enjoy this, slamming both hands down on the desk with a crumpling of steel upon wood before saying:
	"Take that tone elsewhere, or else I'll be forced to discipline you properly, little missy."
	"Or WHUT?!  You ain' do SHIT, sittin' there in a big office lookin' down on people out there not wantin' to help, you know we walked fer four days out on thuh wastes, WE ALMOST DIED JUS' TO GET HERE!"
	"And I respect your endurance but if you ever talk to me like that again I will beat you within an inch of your life."
	"...FUCK YOU!"

She dug her hand into her dress and almost immediately the paladin acted, as she kicked her desk forwards hard enough to knock Diana down off her feet, the raptor quickly leaping up on top to put himself between them instinctively reaching for scissors that weren't there.  A brief panic came to him as Darryl swiftly grabbed him by the leg and hurled him down to one side against the corner of the room, with one chokehold by the hand stretching out to shove him up by the throat.
The other hand was grappling Diana's dress, pushing her back up against the wall as the paladin felt the steel blade in the girl's dress, her hand pinned beneath the dress ready to defend herself.  Jerry had braced himself against the door almost ready to grab his laser rifle before seeing his superior suddenly act, having now one human child up with back to the wall and the raptor forcefully near the corner, the commander snarling with:
	"I thought you had them disarmed, Delgado."
	"Wha?!"
	"This little girl has a switch on her!  Fucking ignorant, letting her get right on in without making sure she didn't carry anything, ARE YOU STUPID?!"
	"Wait, WHAT!?"
	"I'M NOT A GIRL," roared Diana, "AMMA WOMAN!"
	"SHUT UP!"
The paladin roared back even more powerfully before smacking her back against the wall, a dull pain running up on Diana's back.
	"You DO NOT talk back to me in MY OFFICE in MY HOME!  You have done nothing to deserve my respect when all I see is a whining little baby who can't get what she wants!"
	"I'M NOT A BABY, I JUST WANT MY MOMMY BACK YOU BITCH!"
A twitching snarl came from the superior commander before pushing Diana down onto the floor, further shoving her down hard and while not hurting her completely, was most certainly pushing the weight of sheer strength upon her.
	"Look at me.  Look.  At.  Me."
She looked up straight ahead as her eyes pierced into the other's, testing each other's defiance as James struggled against the other hand, claws wrapped smoothly round the steel wrist.
	"If you have nothing else to say to me then you say 'yes sir' and leave.  I am sorry that you came here expecting help and that I'm unable to provide it for the time being, but I will do something about it in future.  We can't all get what we want, so you're just going to have to deal with it.  You're here now, you won't be in any danger so long as you obey our rules, and so long as you obey ME.  And if you ever call me a bitch again so help me god I will ruin you.  Now...is that clear?"
	"...whut if I say no?"
	"Then I throw you out of this place because if you can't follow my authority and be safe, then you can go out to the desert and be not safe and free, like a fool.  You wanna take your chances out there, be my guest, but you are NOT my problem and neither is your mother.  I protect this place and I protect my people, first and foremost.  When I have time and the people to do so, THEN I will save her."
	"B-but...whut if she...whut if she's dead?  That won't mean anythin' will it?"
	"Then that's life.  Deal with it.  Now...is that all?  If so, say 'yes sir' and leave.  Well?"
	"......yes...sir."
	"Good."

The paladin released both of them as James slumped to the floor, with Diana laying on her back looking torn between sorrow and rage twisting in her body.  The raptor tried to pick her up but she pushed him away violently, standing up to her new hated obstacle.  The commander simply went back to the desk and seated, looking up towards them saying:
	"Delgado, take them to someplace useful, if that girl tries to get feisty on us again then give her a good crack on the head to knock her out."
	"Yes boss," said Jerry formally saluting as they left the office.
With firing tensions frayed between them, both James and Diana were taken to the lower areas of the Beech with crippling spirit, the sense of salvation now taken from them ruthlessly by a well-armoured fist.  The girl was wound-up with fury in her cheeks, fingers tightening as she wanted so deeply to beat something in until it was a bloody smear, something to scream and berate whilst mercilessly killing with her short furious blade still in her dress.  It was bad timing for Jerry to ask:
	"You really shouldn't have kept that hidden from us."
	"You wannit, you gotta kill me fer it."
	"Or I could just knock you out."
	"...wanna bet?"
	"I don't bet, I quit gambling years ago.  Cost me an arm and a leg nearly."
	"You think you got lucky walkin' without a nose I'll cut yer whole face off if you try an' take my knife away from me."
	"Diana cool it," said James, "she said she was gonna get some people to help us in a few months, that's the best we can ask for."
	"SHE AIN' NEVER GONNA HELP," roared the child, "GROWN-UPS NEVER DO, ALL THEY DO IS FIGHT AN' KILL EACH OTHER, THEY AIN' NEVER GONNA HELP ANYBODY!"
	"What about me?!"
	"YER NOT HUMAN, YOU DON' MEAN ANYTHIN'!"
Somehow, despite having heard much worse directed at him in his life, this one stung worse.  The raptor simply slumped with shoulders sunk beneath his neck, his head following suit as he stared down at the floor.
	"...I'm the only one who helped you...you shouldn't say such things when I...I got you here safe."
	"I'm sorry, I don' care, nobody gonna help us, ain' nobody gonna help mah mom so she should just be DEAD like all of us shoulda been!  ...I wish you'd never come save me."
	"Wha-huh?"
	"If...if nobody gonna come save mommy from that place...why should anyone even come save me?  I didn' wanna be away from her...not...n-not like this.  I wish you'd never come an' rescued me."
	"...I'm sorry.  Diana look, I'm sorry I-"
	"No.  Jus'...leave me alone."
She walked off ahead of him not caring about the world beyond her vision, just simply wishing it would all burn as she stomped off twisting with a blazing fury in her heart, and no place else to scream.  James did not know what to think, a deep sigh coming from him as Jerry's crackling voice came waltzing up beside him.

	"You done good kid."
	"Huh?"
	"You did good, bringing her here an' everything, no matter what she say, you done good."
	"...doesn't feel like it."
	"She's just mad that things ain't gonna happen the way they ought to, that's politics for ya."
	"What politics, we live in a fucking wasteland...how can there possibly be politics here?"
	"Dunno, humans man, they all gotta have an opinion and we're still an army but we still get orders from the top."
	"Seriously?  I thought she did everything, that Jeffries boss of yours."
	"Paladin's only got control of this area, if you wanna talk to the real master of this place, you got to go up towards the Elder, and ain't nobody heard anything about where he went for a long-ass tim-...yanno what, forget I said that, actually that's just a rumour, not really anything you should be worrying about."
	"Yeah whatever...pfft, fucking humans."
	"Hehehe...listen, don't worry about the little lady, she'll be alright once she settles in, long as she don't pick no fights we're cool with everything."
	"What about me?" James asked.
	"Yer alright, you did your part!  Said 'yes sir' like I told you and didn't get frosted like she did."
	"Uh...right."
	"Listen, you wanna stay here?  Really?  Cuz if you want you can leave I mean I'm sensing yer a little clutched here but, there's just no other place to go around here unless you wanna take a half-day's walk up towards the big city an' stay out in some burnt-out old hideyhole where you can get crazy all by yerself so...you might as well just hang here, be an odd-ball like the rest of us I mean...could always use some more hands I mean, who knows?  Might even get that slave rescue off the ground sooner than you think!"
	"I guess so...maybe she does just need to relax some and see what we can do.  I mean you are right that there's really no other place here, least not on my map anyways."
	"Believe me, you ain't got no place else to go, so why not stay here?  Seriously, there's no place else to go."
	"...alright then."
	"That's the spirit!"
The senior ghoul patted him on the back happily with a toothy smile, the raptor simply shrugging as he forced the edges of his snout to grin.
	"Come on Jimmy, let's find you a place to stay then we can begin yer placement here."
	"Thanks," said FG softly, "you know, you're a lot nicer than your boss, I mean she-"
	"Woah, okay firstly, forgot to mention, do NOT call him 'she' or 'her', got some pronoun trouble here."
	"Um...what?"
	"New rule, unspoken secret rule, my bad but NEVER use female pronouns around boss Jeffries, you get that?"
	"Ummmm...okay but, why?"
	"Listen, he gotta ask for respect, and being in his position it's hard to gain respect in a town like this as well as an organisation like the Brotherhood of Steel.  Too many people just bitch around, call her missy or pretty so he cuts that shit out, like 'you call me MISTER an' that's IT cuz I am your commanding officer', you get what I mean?"
	"Yeah...I do really."
	"That's good, so new rule, always with the male pronouns you got that?"
	"Sure do."
	"That's it, now let's find you a nice home.  Welcome to the Beech, Jimmy...my ol' scaly buddy."
The moment he said this they stepped out of the junior high school base before gazing at the majesty of the small settlement nestling within the shadow of Illinois' capital.  At least they wanted to except that it was now getting towards night and it was less impressive to see in the darkness.  James could not help but smirk at hearing Jerry's previous words.
	"I'm your ol' buddy already?"
	"Well..." the ghoul shrugged, "I mean it's nice to have someone without the smooth skin to count amongst what little friends I got, yanno?"
	"Hhhheheh...yeah I guess so...I mean I could always help a little round this place and just keep myself busy.  Got nowhere else to go."
	"Good enough fer me...cuz I got a good feeling about you.  I think, you an' me...we could make something together."
	"Between you and me," added James, "you're the only one who's ever said that about me."