Chapter 10 Pat

"We're going to see Pat first, aren't we?"


I glance over at Maria as we walk. Right after Jimmy left and right before Brandon and I had a chance to really talk, Maria showed up at the door ready to go. He introduced her as another friend of his, and right away I could tell that she's close to my age. I'm guessing he thought that we might have a lot in common because of our ages, but so far that's all we have in common. As she walks beside me, a little ahead of me, I can see the beginning of the same tattoo on her that Brandon and Jimmy have.

Brandon runs his hand through his hair with a little sigh.

"Who's Pat?" I ask.

Maria smiles as she turns back to look at me. "His best friend. Other than Mike, of course. He always stops by when he comes to town."

"She runs the bar," Brandon says with an obvious pause as if there were more to say.

"You'll like her." Maria nods once, firmly, assured of this. "Everyone does. She doesn't take any crap."


The village sits in a small valley surrounded by hills. The weather is beautiful and warm, but there's a cool breeze coming from somewhere that stops it from being hot and carries strange scents. We're still a bit away from the village proper, but it looks small.

"I've heard it's more like a little Neutral town," Brandon says quietly probably catching my thought.

A lot of the buildings are somewhat old-- pre-revolution. They hold up well, but some do look their age and I wonder if it's safe for them to even still be in use.

On the walk here, Brandon and Maria explain what they know of the history of the village to me. While I already knew about the city the tribe is occupying, I was surprised to learn about the village. Here in the south, there were a couple of large labs that were big enough to need an entire city full of workers to support them. But it wasn't feasible for them to travel back and forth to get all of the necessities to support a city. So they created a farming town where they could raise crops and live stock. Over time, they started being able to make their own textiles, mine for metals and coal, and create small manufacturing plants.

And now that's exactly what it was for the tribe. Rather than constantly having to scavenge, they have a deal worked out with the humans here. The tribe protects them and they offer their services, supplying the tribe with basic necessities. Anything extra requires a trade of some sort.


The people here are safe and generally untouchable by those in the tribe and any of the other dangers that exist out there. Before I can stop them, my own thoughts churn, one very clearly managing to reach Brandon. He glances at me. "They're pretty self contained."

"What do you mean?" I ask like an idiot.

Maria smoothly steps in when Brandon pauses trying to find the words to explain. "What he means is that it's very difficult for someone to become a member of the town. Resources are limited."

Of course a heaven like this in a world full of danger wouldn't allow just anyone in.


The bar is on the outskirts of the town. There isn't even a dirt road leading to it, just a small dirt path. Inside, the place is very warm and cozy. Curtains hang in the windows, and mismatched chair sets fill the room. There are quite a few people sitting around, nursing drinks and smoking. I glance quickly to make sure that Jimmy isn't already here waiting for us with his creepy friendly smile and that's when I notice a woman looking at us.


She walks over to us, her eyes on Brandon with a smile. "Like clockwork. I don't need a calendar with you visiting every two weeks."

Brandon steps forward to hug her warmly, and at first she seems to resist when she sees me and Maria, but she folds, wrapping her arms over his shoulders, a rag dangling from her hand. It only lasts a second before they step apart and he turns to us, one hand on the small of her back I notice, and introduces me. "Pat, this is my sister, Paula."


Apparently she reaches out her hand to shake mine before the words sink in because her eyes almost seem to pop open once her hand is in mine. "Sister? You two have a sister now?"

I bite my lip, my hand still in hers, Right away I know she means Brandon and Jimmy, and it sort of disturbs me that she speaks of both of them in the same thought so casually.

The hand that Brandon had on her back comes up to cover his mouth as he gently coughs as if to clear his throat. "Uh, no. Just me. She's Henri's daughter."

She slips her hand away from mine finally with a quick apology. "You're not from here, are you, sweetie?"

Maria and Brandon are both quiet, and I suppose it's time I spoke for myself. "No, I'm, uh, Neutral." I say it quietly and look away, glancing around to see if anyone else is reacting. But no one else is paying us any attention even though we're standing very close to the front door.


"Neutral?" She whispers it still in surprise. But then a smile breaks out on her face and she nudges Brandon. "He'll sleep with anyone once, won't he? I guess we know for sure where you get it from."

Maria laughs and I stand there with my eyes open wide. "That's no secret, Pat." Maria says. "C'mon. It's the one thing they do have in common."


Before Brandon can even inhale to form any sort of defense, there's a screech from somewhere past the bar. "Brandon!" A little girl comes running out in a simple little pinafore dress with brightly colored pants on underneath that look like they've seen better days. The girl is covered in dirt. Her shoes make loud thumping noises against the old wood as she runs to Brandon and leaps into his arms as he moves to scoop her up. It's so fluid a movement between the two that it has to be well practiced. Like they worked it out before hand how much strength he'd need to hold her and how much lift she'd need to meet him half way.

"I knew it. I saw it on the calendar, and I knew it. I told gramma..." She rattles off so many words a minute in her excitement that they blur together and I can't fully understand, but Brandon patiently nods as if he understands it all. (Ironically, it's the same patience he seems to have with me when he's trying to explain things.)

"Melissa!" Pat looks at me. "She's not always this dirty. I swear."

An older woman walks up wiping her hands on her apron. "Then you lie."

Maria smile. "That's true Pat. Anytime I see Melissa, she's come back from crawling through the garden."

"Mom!" Pat turns to the older woman. "She's supposed to be outside with you."

The older woman smiles and shrugs her shoulders. "She just got away from me. I'm old you know." I get a good look at her, and she is not old. She's probably the same age as my mother. She steps past Pat to greet Brandon with a kiss on his cheek.


The little girl in his arms snuggles close to him in a way that is clearly possessive. Her blue eyes glance over at me, watching me carefully as if I might try and take him away.

Maria puts a hand on my arm. "Don't worry, we can go to the junk shop and kill some time. You take your time. We can meet up in a bit."

Pat looks really apologetic. "I'm sorry. She just loves when Brandon visits."


"Just like all the other girls in town." Pat's mother laughs and Pat glares at her.

"It's okay," I say in an echo of Maria's words.

"You sure?" Brandon asks as if the little girl clinging to him has any intention of letting him go.

"Yeah." Both Maria and I nod at the same time. It takes a bit of work on both our parts to reassure him that it's fine.

Even then he still looks a little bit guilty. "All right. But don't take her to the Edge. I wanna be there for that."



Next Chapter -->



I come bearing another profile. Or two, technically. Patrice and Melissa Sherman. (Check it out just to see the cutest TS3 toddler picture I think I am ever going to get.)