FRIEDA ~~ her house ~~ dawn"
Frieda," someone was calling her.
Frieda inhaled sharply and was immediately awake. She blinked and rubbed her face. Pawnee had propped himself up on the mattress and was awake. The swelling in his face had gone down significantly and he was able to speak clearly. "Frieda, I've lied to you about a lot of things. Not about my feelings to you - but about my past. That raider, Chomper, I slept with his girl. That's why he burned my arms so bad. Afterwards. . .I was so mad at him that I killed him and ran away. I didn't know it, but his set killed my brother, Lakota, and the wife of my oldest brother, Cree, out of revenge."
Frieda couldn't help but groan and rubbed her eyes again. "What time is it...?" she breathed. She glanced towards the window over her shoulder and could see dawn was barely breaking.
Pawnee sat up and continued speaking. "Cree put a bounty on me. A huge bounty. That guy with the scythe you told me about is a bounty hunter - he's after me. I promised I'd pay off the bounty with the gold we found. He has Buck - he's holding onto him until I go back with the gold. . .but I don't have enough gold on my own. I - I need one coin from you Frieda. Then I can go back and pay him off."
She took a deep breath and slowly let it all sink in. Before she could say anything, Pawnee went on.
"I don't want to get you or anyone else involved in this. Its my fault they're here and they could hurt you. . .
bad. Worse than me. This was my fault. . .and Joe. Whatever you do, Frieda, don't tell Joe a word. He gave me up to them," Pawnee pulled out the sack of caps. He dropped them into her hands. "These are the caps he sold me out for. Take them for the coin - and get me that coin. I have to go get the others or they'll kill Buck."
Joe? What? ...the man had asked about Joe, now that I recall. Head of town security, but sold out one of his own residents? Caught up in her own thoughts, she didn't realize Pawnee was trying to stand before he wobbled dramatically and fell to the ground.
"[censored]! I - I have to get that gold Frieda. I have to. . . ."
Frieda smoothly knelt down, took him by the arm and shoulder, and gently pulled him back up onto the bed. "Shhh," she hushed him gently, sitting next to him. His face was a mural of black and blue, but his brown eyes still shone out, alert and bright. She tossed the caps over her shoulder, onto the floor beside the bed. "Come here."
"...what?" He frowned in confusion, watching the caps hit the floor.
She curled her legs up on the bed and reached over, wrapping her arms around his waist, hugging him closely. Frieda was overwhelmed with compassion, seeing him suddenly stripped down to such a raw level of human emotion. "We
are in this together. I'm already involved. That man came by the shop, so he knows where I work, and he...he asked if I was your girlfriend. He knows about me."
Frieda reached up and gently pushed Pawnee's head so that it rest on her shoulder. "I'm going to stay with you, help you. I've been...unfair." She closed her eyes and thought about what Celeste had told her the night before. She thought about her own feelings.
I hope you know what you're doing.
Who cares. If Pawnee is right and this bounty hunter comes after me, I might as well die without regrets. ...well, without the ones I could have prevented, anyways."You can have all my coins, if you want. If that helps keep you from getting more hurt, then that's all I care about. You're not going back there alone, and you're not going anywhere before you're a little more recovered." She gave him a gentle squeeze -- she couldn't bring herself to kiss his bruised and bumpy forehead. "You're safe here. Okay? We'll figure things out...later."
Frieda heard a knocking on the door downstairs. She frowned.
Who the [censored] could that be? The sun hasn't even come up yet. Pawnee quivered, his eyes wide. She squeezed his hands. "Relax, I can handle this. I'm the last surviving member of the Enclave, remember?" Frieda smiled and stood up from the bed. "I'll be back in a minute."
She left the bedroom and closed the door. The rest of her house was dark, the sun not yet having crest the horizon. Frieda tried to creep down her stairs as quietly as she could, but every step let out a creak and a snap. She went to the grimy front window and strained her eyes out of a tiny clear spot. Rusty was standing in the street, looking at her door. She couldn't see who was in front of it. "[censored]," she muttered.
Frieda pulled out her plasma pistol and moved the chair she had propped up underneath the door handle.
It's probably just Harlen, apparently he and Rusty are some kind of team. She turned the handle and instead of being able to pull the door open a crack, it fell into her, causing her to stumble backwards.
Pistol Girl --
Brandy, Celeste said her name is Brandy -- fell onto the floor and groaned.
Did she sleep there all night? Frieda shook her head in her confusion and looked up at Harlen. She immediately felt irritated.
"What the hell are you doing here?" she hissed at Harlen. Brandy adjusted her glasses and groggily stood up. "I thought I made it clear, Pawnee is in
my charge. He's trying to sleep upstairs without you pounding on my front door. Go and stick your nose in someone else's business. God knows this town has enough drama for everyone to go around." She kicked the door shut and put the chair back underneath the door handle, before leaning her back against it and shuddering.
Brandy stood very still. "Are you okay?" she squeaked.
Frieda trembled.
If I go for a run, I leave Pawnee alone. Harlen will kick the door down, if he wants to turn Pawnee in, and Pawnee is still not in any shape to fight back. She clutched her head.
I can't run today. Pawnee is more important. I have to stay here. She broke into a cold sweat.
Brandy was watching her, wide-eyed. "...are you okay?" she repeated.
Frieda nodded, clutching herself. "I'll be fine. I...I'm going to stay down here for a second, make sure those men don't try to force their way in. Pawnee is upstairs. He'll probably want to see you. The room at the top of the stairs."
"Wait," Frieda called, just after Brandy turned to walk to the staircase. "I...I'm sorry about the other day. I was very hurt, more than anything. I got the wrong impression." She offered Brandy a small smile. "We can at least be civil, if not friends. Right?"
"Sure," Brandy replied. She went upstairs.
Frieda lowered herself to the floor, her plasma pistol still out, forcing herself to let Brandy have a few minutes with Pawnee privately.
» Sat May 28, 2011 3:55 pm 
