Utterly Mad

(( Written with Salt. ))

To the scav crew, the wait seemed like hours when actually it was only a handful of minutes. Twenty minutes at most. The buses had unloaded their cargo of people, letting those aboard get fresh air and stretch their legs before being ushered back on again. It gave the rest of the fighters a chance to disembark and make the scavengers even more nervous. They didn't show a sign of aggression though. Just looks of fear and suspicion directed at the people they'd been following. The fighters kept their weapons shouldered and passed around cigarettes or lined themselves up along the side of the buses as though waiting for an execution order to be given. When Catalina arrived with her small contingent of last minute fighters, they continued to not make a move.

"They wanna talk Cap'." One of the scavengers said simply when asked about the situation. Captain Sandell looked over the motley crew of possible enemies with a more expert eye than the scavengers. Mooring points on the buses either cut or torn off as through removed in a hurry to make the vehicles lighter. Bullet holes near the bottoms as though someone had been trying to disable them without injuring the occupants. And the tires. Catalina had once seen a troubled recruit who had decided he wasn't down for the army life try to steal a military truck. When he'd hit the checkpoint on his way out of the base, the trucks tires had looked much like the tires of these buses after it had gone over the checkpoint's spike strip. Those that weren't shredded were flat or just about flat.

Catalina nodded at that, looking back over to Nell who'd been directing the rest of the squad, retaining a wary eye. From the look of things, a quick glance over the mangled vehicles at least gave ample reason to believe that it wasn't a trick like they were afraid of. She gave a hand signal to indicate that they'd cleared the vehicles as best as their cursory examination would allow.

"Alright. Tell them we're ready for whoever's in charge here." she said, still marveling to herself at the degree of abuse the vehicles endured. So far the scavengers had given little clue as to what motivated what seemed like a mass defection. Once again making her wish that they had contact with the rest of the Old Guard in Maryland and offshore, especially the handful of defectors that had been sent that way over the years.

One of the scavengers waved to the gathered men, and the first three to disembark broke away from the group. They had been watching and waiting patiently for that signal, the sign that the centers leadership was present and ready to speak. Once they were face to face with Catalina though, the man who seemed to represent them seemed to be having a hard time speaking. One of the other two gave him a light shove.

"C'mon, we didn't come this way for nothing. Swallow your pride already James." He said. The other gave him a glare before looking back to "James" expectantly.

"I'm... I'm gettin' to it, just gimme a sec..." James mumbled. Catalina saw pride in James, pride that was crumbling before her eyes and leaving a man exposed before the people he'd once thought of as the "enemy." Seeing that, she was certain as to what this was about even before he blurted what he said next. "God's Army is dead. The Archbishop... The Archbishop is a monster."

The men to either side of him unslung their weapons, and laid them at Catalina's feet. The other fighters of these people, these refugees, came forward and did the same while James went on. "We're all that's left after the bastards... after his..."

"After his fucking feast!" Someone from the crowd of soldiers shouted. There came a rumble at that, a note of horror tinging it. "He fucking lied to us! He's got his fucking robots now, and he doesn't need any of us anymore. We're just more fucking sheep to that fuckers slaughter!" The crowd was getting agitated now, and Catalina could almost imagine it. The intel Atomos had shared, reports from survivors of raids. The facts of New Bangor fell into place.

Before the crowd could get any more uneasy, James pushed something into her hands and said what Catalina had expected and what he'd had the most trouble getting out. "We... Surrender..." The something he'd handed her was a stack of blue cross patches.

Catalina gave a simple nod of understanding at that, accepting the patches with caution. "It seems we have a lot to talk about, when you're comfortable discussing it, at least." she said, before giving a nod. "We should head inside. Get any injured tended to, interview the civilians you've brought along, discuss what your plan is for now." she answered calmly.

She turned to get back into her jeep and began to signal for her people to move out when a hand found her elbow. At first she suspected some new trick, some treachery, but there wasn't any. She spun back harshly, ready to meet the perceived threat and was stopped by the haunted depth in the mans eyes.

"Are... are you serious? Just like that?" He said. The words dropped like stones from his mouth, "I don't know what to... My... Our people though, you aren't worried about..."

"You're human aren't you?" Nell cut in, "So are we. So are the people living here, even if they look a bit different." Nell glanced at Catalina, and the Captain nodded approvingly. "You aren't beyond scrutiny, don't go around thinking that, but people are people. In times like these, we have to help each other. I'm just sad that it took you this long and going through... whatever happened to you to come around."

James hung his head for a moment and the others couldn't quite see the New Paris representatives face to face, then he took a deep breath and let it out in two words.

"Thank god..."

---

Hector and Floyd led the way back into the farm, Hector occasionally pointing things out as they passed for Branches' benefit, in particular as they passed by the forge area. That the main opening in Walkerville's palisade took visitors right past the forge area was evident. While being able to observe people coming and going while working on smithing was one side benefit, and perhaps he enjoyed having his smithing be readily visible, the real reason it was still there was simply due to that being more or less the same area it was back when it was tucked away in the old barn, now a distant memory.

Branches ogled the large silvery birch beyond the forge before taking note of the work area itself. Despite having all the equipment needed at a new forge Catnip had set up for him, Hector still preferred the equipment set out near the entrance. For one dreamy moment, Branches could imagine the knight standing at the anvil under the simple cover, hammering away at some bit of hot metal. Sweat trickling down his brow in the heat. She shook her head to clear the strange thoughts, and none too soon. While Hector pointed out the cook shack and Floyd stepped away to deal with a trio of people finishing off hauling furniture into his newly built house, something black and white stumble staggered over to her to fall at the homunculus's feet in a pile of arms, silk, and teeth.

"SSSsssSSS! Dirty one eyes! Smells like mud and earths and green things! Eh? Little tur-nup will be My-ka's friend yes?" Mica hissed, uncharacteristically friendly. She'd seen Branches approaching with the others, and something about the girl appealed to Mica. Perhaps it was the teeth or maybe Branches one eye, reminiscent of Mica's own single "normal" eye. "SssssSSss, what is it? Eh? My-ka can't eat tur-nup, what is it?"

Hector soon turned his attention back to Branches, and went pale at realizing Mica had stumbled out and was now "menacing" the homunculus as best as a pregnant spidergirl covered in silk could. Which still was likely a fair bit. "Easy Mica, this is Branches. She's a visitor here." he explained, stepping forward before offering a gauntleted hand to help Mica back up.

"Bran-chez? Bran-chez? Eh? Tur-nup is Bran-chez? Ssssssss!" Mica hissed. Mica didn't just accept Hector's hand. Of all the residents, only Dee could coax a gesture so simple and gentle out of her. For everyone else, Mica would "climb." A long, web webbed hand snatched Hector's wrist and pulled. There wasn't large amount of strength in the pull but there was weight. A lot of people would have been pulled to the ground but Hector wasn't most people, and so he easily maintained his footing. The next hand came up and grabbed the top of a greave, then a third hand hooked itself over the gorget at his throat while the forth found purchase just below his right pauldron. Floyd broke away from what he was doing rather abruptly to assist, but the spider was already on her feet and looking like some kind of life sucking wraith. The silk in her hair made her look like she was wearing a shredded wedding veil and the whispy gossamer clinging to her clothing brought the "wraith" comparison all together.

"C'mon kiddo," Floyd said, drawling unconsciously, "let the tin can go and we'll go see Dee."

"My-ka don't wanna see lizard!" She barked, "lizard let's My-ka get all tied up and won't help!" She pawed Hector while she spoke and Branches couldn't really tell if she even knew she was doing it or not. Her hands crawled all over the surface of the knights armor, leaving sheets of messy silk that stuck fast. Then, she turned her eyes back on Branches. "Bran-chez will help My-ka yes? Eh?"

"Um... Maybe?" Branches said sheepishly. It seemed that maybe meant yes to Mica, and she gave Hector a gentle push and darted for the Homunculus. The result was that Hector tripped over the iron threads Mica had unknowingly spun around his legs, and he could only get one hand free to catch himself. He hit the ground with a crash, and Mica was already wrapping her arms around Branches. In turn, Branches felt instantly sick to her stomach. It felt like she was being drained of something vital, like the spider really was the wraith like creature she appeared to be.

Hector stood his ground even as Mica clambered upright rather than accepting a hand up, likely one of the few who trusted that she wouldn't intentionally attack her, in addition to trusting his armor to hold up to grasping claws that might otherwise slash him up in her attempt to stand. "Easy Mica, you're going to trip yourself u-"

It was then he himself tripped due to the threads increasingly caught on plates and around limbs, the sound being something like a muffled clatter and the subdued shifting of metal on metal as he was left fumbling with trying to untangle himself.

"Where'd she go?" Hector asked, looking around after Floyd finished giving him a few selective dabs with the brush. Mica had seemingly taken off again, satisfied with her assessment of the newcomer and the minor havoc she wreaked with them. Branches sat up with a bit of a wobble and Hector offered her a hand. "Well nevermind. Hm, I don't remember you being so dark before."

"Dark?" Branches asked. She was darker, slightly, and her skin had changed texture somehow. Small lines like the strokes of fingers had formed, and Branches realized with not a little horror that that was exactly what they were. Strokes left by her own fingers while forming her body. Mica's influence had begun to revert the Homunculus back into the soil she was derived from. She was changing back though and before she took Hectors hand (an act that sent a thrill through her) her skin was back to it's porcelain white.

"My eyes are playing tricks on me I guess." Hector said, "My mistake. Where to next Floyd?"