Shachi, Penguin, and Law were escorted to one of the trailers at the back-most end of the camp, directly opposite the main gate and smack dab in the middle of the ring of vehicles. It was a beat-up, rusting old thing. Once painted a pale green, the layer of color was severely aged and chipped away more than it was present, eroded by weather and littered with the odd dent or two. Or twelve. Margaret had stopped in front and presented it with a wide grin and a sweeping arm, as if showing off her most prized possession.
"Welcome to the guest suite!" She'd said, chuckling at their dubious expressions. Her cheeriness never wavered, but 'suite' was a bit of an understatement in their opinion.
Inside wasn't much better, though the exterior hadn't given them high expectations to begin with. Without any electricity, they were forced to use Margaret's flashlight to see anything at all, and it wasn't too flattering. Most of the interior workings had been stripped from inside, allowing more room for the occupants to move around. The front seat had been removed, the door to the toilet was gone, including the toilet itself. When asked about it, Margaret said they didn't have a way of cleaning out the tanks without creating a disgusting mess, so they were removed from all but one, the designated trailer just for that purpose at the other end of the encampment.
On either side of the main living space was a bed, covered in a nest of old, graying blankets. They looked disturbed, like someone had slept there previously, but not recently. According to their host, there was another one further back behind a curtain, what would have once been the 'master bedroom.'
"Any newcomers who come through sleep here." Margaret had explained, letting them wander the inside to familiarize themselves with their temporary shelter. "If we decide they can stay, we'll assign them another camper with more permanent items later, but this should do ya for the night."
Reminding them once more that their weapons would remain in the hands of Marve, the previously mentioned guard, and that they'd best get as much sleep as they could, she bid them a goodnight and exited out the door, her footsteps carrying her away from them quickly.
"Well, I'm beat." Shachi said immediately after, flopping onto one of the beds set up against the wall. It creaked in protest as he bounced on the mattress, but otherwise looked comfortable enough. He let out a groan as he stretched, curling down to relieve his feet of his boots.
Penguin followed his lead and took up the other bed opposite. "Thank God we found this place…" He muttered, taking off his hat and setting it aside. Shachi grunted a low agreement but said nothing more, too focused on the objective of sleep.
Law wasn't too broken up about having to take the bed in the back. It would give him some time with his thoughts, perhaps. Skirting past them up the center aisle, Law pulled aside the tan curtain hanging from the ceiling over the doorway and peered inside.
Fitting the overall quality of the rest of the camper, Law wouldn't exactly call it spectacular or five star, but it would do. You couldn't be too picky these days anyways. Options tended to be limited. A queen-sized bed was set against the wall, two small side tables installed on either side. He opened them out of curiosity and found nothing inside. Unsurprising.
He glanced back and noticed that both of his companions were already laying down and making themselves comfortable for the night. They must have been worn out from the long day of hiking, and he didn't blame them. He too was rather exhausted, but the fear of being in an unfamiliar place without his weapons was making it difficult to relax.
Not for the first time since arriving at what Margaret had called 'Woodsville,' an overtly unoriginal and creatively lacking name to be quite honest, Law reached behind him and rubbed between his shoulder blades, missing the constant, reliable weight of his sword on his back. It was probably locked away in a drawer somewhere, kept under watchful eye of a guard or two. Margaret's condition for entering the camp was a logical and practical one, but he'd still much prefer to keep his primary means of protection on him. You never knew who you couldn't trust.
Law fully opened the curtain door dividing the two rooms, ensuring he had a full view of the whole living area to keep watch, and dropped his pack beside him on the floor. They'd been searched thoroughly when their weapons had been confiscated, but after deeming that there was nothing else dangerous in their possession, the rest of their things had been returned.
His boots were deposited on the floor and he lowered himself onto the bed, testing the softness of the mattress. Expecting to feel the sharp dig of metal springs poking against his backside, he was pleasantly relieved to find that it was more durable and comfortable than he'd first thought. At least it didn't appear to creak with every shift, as Shachi's had done. That was a plus. After a moment, he let himself lay flat on his back and released a reluctant sigh of approval.
He closed his eyes, shifting his shoulders until they weren't so hunched beneath his weight, and moved his arm to rest beneath his head, the other set easily next to his thigh. Breathing evening out, the darkness inside gently coaxing him to rest easy, Law almost forgot about assigning the watch for the night. Damn him if he wasn't going to make sure they weren't murdered in their sleep. Cracking open an eye, he raised his head a few inches to see over the foot of the bed.
"Penguin? Shachi?" He called, waiting several moments after but receiving no answer. Frowning, he sat up and looked over at the other beds, noticing that they weren't moving a muscle. He almost panicked, fearing they'd been poisoned or something similar, but a soft snore on Shachi's part turned that fear into amusement, a grin sliding in place as he realized they'd fallen asleep in a matter of minutes.
Shaking his head ruefully, Law let his head rest against the pillow again, staring up through half-lidded eyes at the ceiling. It was good that the others were able to find sleep so quickly, but he had little faith his own overactive mind would let him do the same. It would seem he'd be the only watch that night.
Outside, he could still hear people talking mutedly, a stray laugh or shout catching his ear on occasion. A reminder that they weren't alone. And as much as it gave some sort of reassurance of having human company instead of undead, the thought of strangers didn't ease all of his worries.
Not surprising, Law had a rough time getting to sleep at all.
As it turned out, the guards they'd seen on top of the barricade at the gate would circle the entire encampment every so often, and that meant walking along the roof of each one so they could survey the area all around them, their boots thumping heavily and rather loudly against the metal of the overhead.
The first time this happened, Law had shot out of the bed in search of his sword, cursing when he couldn't find it. Only after the man above coughed or cleared his throat did he remember where he was and who had made the noise. Thankfully, he hadn't made it through the process of waking the others up before he calmed down enough to lay back in the bed once more.
Even when his heavy eyelids had nearly convinced him it was safe enough to give into the sleep he so desperately needed, some noise would put him on edge again, or he'd begin overthinking to the point of resisting sleep entirely, just to keep watch. His skin buzzed with the preparation to be on his feet and rushing to Penguin and Shachi should the need arise. It was an exhausting but familiar routine he'd engrained into his head, as they'd often have to rely on it while keeping watch in the woods at night.
All through the night, his sleep would be disturbed or shaken off, and eventually light began to filter in through the blinds over the small window, the cabin gradually growing brighter and brighter until he could see the interior in more detail than he'd been able to before.
Some time after, he could hear the sound of doors opening nearby, and he assumed this was the other group members waking up for the day. Voices grew louder, but didn't quite reach the level of yelling.
He sighed, rubbing away the crusty feeling of fatigue at his eyes and pushed up from the bed. Though he'd gotten less than a few hours of sleep in total, Law had worked with less before, and so swung his legs over the bed and stooped to put on his boots, standing and wandering into the living area just outside the doorway.
"Hey." He called easily, observing his two companions. Penguin was wrapped completely, akin to a burrito, in the many blankets the bed had provided. The cocoon of fabric looked smothering, but somehow he looked fast asleep and completely comfortable.
Shachi on the other hand had half of his limbs draped over the edge of the bed, his face smashed into the pillow, mouth open, and drool creating a wet spot in the fabric. All of the blankets were pushed to the opposite side of the bed, not touching him at all.
Law sighed and shook his head, but walked closer. He'd rather leave them to get a bit more rest, but with the camp waking up and going about their day, he wanted to see how things worked around here, and be ready and waiting if things turned south.
Grabbing the end of one of the blankets wrapped around Penguin, Law pulled, bringing the sleeping man with it as he rolled over the edge of the bed and onto the floor with a loud thud.
"Son of a bitch!" Came his muffled curse, instantly awoken with the impact to the floor. Struggling to free himself from the mass of blankets now trapping him as he scramble up from the ground, his eyes flicked back and forth frantically, trying to identify whatever had-
Law's chuckling form stared down at him with a smirk, and he went limp with an annoyed sigh. "Seriously?"
"I tried shaking you but you were out cold." Their leader lied through his smirk, just for the point of doing so.
"Like hell you did." Penguin grumbled, finally unraveling the blankets around him and standing from the floor. In the commotion it seemed Shachi had awoken as well, and he rubbed at his eyes in amusement.
"Sucks to be you." He commented unsympathetically, but even he was not spared that morning as Law turned to him next.
"Might want to wipe off all that drool." He gestured to Shachi's face.
"Huh?" Frowning, the redhead brought up his hand and felt at the corner of his mouth, feeling the cold, wet feeling of saliva that had began to dry on his face. Scrunching his face in disgust, he swatted at his face to try to remove the evidence. "Aw, come on!" He muttered, trying to ignore the amusement in Penguin's and Law's expressions.
"Should I tell the ladies of the camp you drool in your sleep?" Law teased, crossing his arms smugly. Served them both right for messing with him on the road. The threat had the desired affect, and he shut up fairly quickly after that. And with that, Law walked to the front of the trailer, peering out the small window in the door to view the outside.
"Everyone's waking up now, so we shouldn't be too long after."
"Ooh, wonder what's for breakfast?" Penguin asked no one in particular, now a bit more eager to get up and ready for the day.
"Sorry, boys. I may have forgotten to mention." Margaret rubbed at her bedhead as she stood from her chair in front of the fire pit, trying to smooth it back into a semblance of normal with an apologetic expression. "We don't eat breakfast around here."
"No breakfast?" Shachi almost shouted his outrage, but realized at the last minute an outburst like that would probably just draw unwanted attention their way. Not to mention, it would sound completely whiney and childish. Still, he couldn't help but wonder. "Why?"
She shrugged and waved them to follow her as she walked down to the front gate of the camp. "Look, Marve wasn't lying last night when he said we were low on food. We are. So, to try to ration out our supplies, we only have a light lunch and dinner everyday."
Law hadn't been expecting a free, complimentary breakfast anyways, so he wasn't too bummed that they weren't going to be given any sort of food anyways. His stomach grumbled lightly in protest, but otherwise he gave no outward protest. Shachi and Penguin, however, weren't as disciplined.
"Damnit…" Penguin muttered low under his breath, but Margaret still seemed to hear it. Her signature chuckle of amusement broke the silence that followed.
"I get it. Just saved from starvation and you can't get enough." She stopped just outside the entrance gate, cocked her hip and placed a hand on one side, looked decidedly sassy as she smirked at the three companions. "Trust me, if we had some food to spare, I'd readily give it to you, but we just don't have the freedom to funnel all our supplies at three strangers."
"I wouldn't either, if I were in your position." Law answered truthfully, regarding her with a careful eye. She still hadn't earned his trust, in fact, no more than a fraction probably born of the gratitude for feeding them when they were on the brink of death. He still couldn't tell if she could be trusted, and he wasn't about to start unless she truly gave them a reason to.
In turn, she regarded him just as carefully, eyes inspecting the tattoos he knew were poking out from under the sleeve of his shirt. It was a fairly predictable move, since most people he met immediately were drawn to the black ink adorning his skin. However, her eyes seemed to linger just a moment longer than was necessary, as if caressing the skin with her gaze alone. Her blue eyes flicked back up to see him staring, intentionally holding her there with his eyes to be sure he knew, indeed, that she was taking her ample time.
That sly smirk seemed to grow, before she turned and knocked on the metal siding of the nearest trailer. "Marve! You got what we need?"
There was a shuffle, then a metallic creak, and then the door to the trailer opened, revealing the bald, bearded profile of the guard himself. Just as before, he held a semi-automatic rifle in his hands. His suspicious glance towards the three men was no surprise, but he just ignored them and turned to Margaret with a nod, patting the shoulder strap of the backpack he had on. "All set to go."
"Great, let's get moving." She turned back to them and smiled as Marve exited the trailer, heading towards the entrance to the camp.
Law narrowed his eyes, not quite sure what was happening. "Where are we going?"
The chain locking the gate in place was removed, and Marve gave a gruff reply only a second later. "Target practice. We ain't just gonna let any damn fool to stay in our camp and eat our food. You lot wanna stay? You've gotta pull your weight. We don't take slackers."
The bald man turned to cast a stern glare in Law's direction, and the younger man simply raised a brow, wondering what had put the man in such a sour mood. Well, come to think of it, it wasn't that hard to guess. Obviously he didn't like having to trust new and strange men crowding his home.
Margaret stepped forwards in between them, though they were already a few feet apart. It was an unspoken end to the tension they had yet to break between them. "What Marve is trying to say is that we want to see what areas you're skilled in. Most of the residents here have daily jobs and tasks, whether that be going out to scavenge supplies, or to help grow the plants in the garden. We just want to see where you guys fall on that spectrum."
"You could've just asked us." Shachi shrugged, not seeing the point in going to such a length to test them. "Penguin and I are mechanics or engineers, whatever you want to call it. Well, we used to be before…you know."
"And Law was a doctor." Penguin added, gesturing to his friend. "Certified and everything."
"A doctor, huh?" Margaret raised a brow and narrowed her eyes, seemingly looking at him in a new light. This time, her gaze didn't feel quite so invasive or…suggestive, as before. Yes, that was the word. She'd definitely been looking at him that way. And that only made him more wary of her. This time though, the look was nothing but calculating and serious.
"Saying it and knowing it are two different things, and pardon me if I'd like to be sure of who I'm letting stay in my camp. First, show me you're a good shot and we'll go from there." So saying, she stepped past Marve and out the gate, into the forest waiting beyond. Marve gave them all a glare that said 'one wrong step and you'll get a bullet in your brain.' He gestured out the door for them to go, and Penguin and Shachi were the first to comply.
Realizing that he had no weapon to take control of the situation with, Law eventually followed after his two friends, wanting to keep them in sight until, if, he was sure this place was everything it seemed. Marve kept a wide berth between them as he passed, which Law was fine with. The further away he stayed, the better. Tangling with the armed guard wasn't high on his bucket list.
Outside the gate, Margaret stood with Penguin and Shachi, waiting for Marve and Law to exit. Once they were all outside the main gate, someone inside latched the chain back into place and took Marve's place on watch.
"What, you've got like targets or something set up out here?" Shachi asked, looking around as if they were in plain sight. The woman started walking off in a particular direction, opposite that of the way they'd originally found this place.
"Yup. Just up here. This place used to be a summer camp for kids and all that, so there's an archery range, a dock, etc."
There was silence for a few moments as they took that information in, then Penguin visibly searched the area for something, before shaking his head in confusion. "Don't summer camps usually have…cabins? Are there none here?"
She turned to look at him, walking backwards through the woods, finding each step with confidence as if she'd walked this path a thousand times. Law was willing to bet she had. "Oh, there used to be. Several years back there was a big forest fire in this area, burned most of the buildings down. The city decided not to rebuild and just tore the remaining structures down."
It wasn't until it was mentioned did Law notice the old, blackened remnants of trees that had burned where they stood, newer trees having already grown into adulthood around them. There was definitely evidence of a fire having once been here, and it certainly looked like it had happened awhile ago.
"If they'd left the few buildings that had stayed intact, most of us wouldn't be living in trailers." Margaret surmised, almost as if talking to herself more than anything. Then, she shrugged and resumed walking frontwards. "Nothing to do about that now, though."
Penguin and Shachi asked her more about what the area was like before the apocalypse, a topic Law was less than interested in, so naturally he zoned into his own thoughts and ignored their conversation. Marve walked silently behind the group, keeping a lookout for any zombies that might be nearby, but also closely watching the three of them.
Law's back prickled with unease at having an armed man at his back. An armed man who he didn't know or trust. Every fiber of his body was screaming that this was a bad idea, being led into the woods with people they couldn't be sure of, unarmed. This could readily be their death.
They didn't have to walk much farther to find the archery range. The camp had been set up just five minutes from where the summer camp cabins had once stood. Large squares of concrete foundations still sat, partially blackened and cracking in the middle of the forest path. Law could count at least four of them, but Margaret led them past these and down what had once been a smoothed-out walking path in the center of the camp. On the other side was a clear space, about a hundred yard long.
At the far end of the space were four archery targets, all of them already riddled with bullet holes. Law raised a brow and wondered how she planned on seeing how accurate their shots were with a target like that.
Margaret stopped at the edge of the clearing and the boys did the same. Marve, however, kept walking towards the target with a sense of purpose.
"We'll set up a temporary paper target, so that way we can see where your shots hit." She explained, watching as Marve stopped in front of one of the targets in particular, and dropped the backpack on the ground to rummage inside.
"How many times have you done this?" Law questioned seriously, turning his attention away from the man down the range. She shrugged, never taking her eyes off of the targets.
"Few dozen? Maybe more? You lose count in the span of a few years."
"There've been that many people come through?" Penguin's tone portrayed his doubt.
"It's not like I know the way the universe works." She rolled her eyes in response, crossing her arms. "All I know is you're not the first ones to come through looking for a place to call home, and you definitely won't be the last, regardless if we let you stay or not."
"Who says we planned on staying?" Law countered, instantly regretting his words when both Penguin and Shachi glanced his way. His reply had been meant to keep her from thinking they were relying on her decision alone as to what their fate would be. He didn't want her thinking she held all this power over them, or that they owed her anything. But the surprise, then the hurt, and then the disappointment from his friends all conglomerated into one sad look on both their faces and he almost couldn't take it.
It only lasted a moment, before they looked away and shared a glance of their own, but he'd seen it. It had been there. And he knew he'd have to discuss this with them at one point. Ever the tactician, Law didn't let his own emotion give way as Margaret scrutinized him at his answer.
"Well, we aren't making you stay. You can leave at any time, but if you do decide to settle in, I want to be sure I'd even let you."
Fearing he'd slip up and say something stupid again, Law remained quiet, turning to watch Marve return from setting up the makeshift target. It was nothing more than a big piece of paper with a few red rings and a bullseye drawn on in some kind of paint.
He placed the backpack down besides Margaret and she rummaged inside for something. "Wish we had a better method of testing marksmanship, but we'll have to make do with what we have." The pistol she pulled out from within was small, a standard glock found at any sporting goods store. It may have been small but it would get a job done decently. " We don't have many bullets to spare, so you'll only take one shot each. Make it count."
So saying, she took a single bullet from a box and kept them in her hand, standing and passing the presumably unloaded gun to Law. "You first."
As expected, they all passed Margaret's little shooting test. It wasn't that hard to begin with anyways, but she seemed satisfied with the results. They'd trekked back to the camp not even an hour later to find that a group of people were setting out to go scavenging. Margaret met with them all personally and sent them on their way, warning they be careful and have each other's backs.
Marve returned back to the trailer at the front of the camp directly next to the gate, but only after he'd made sure that Margaret would be fine with them alone. She'd had to reassure him several times that she could take care of herself within the camp. With much reluctance, he'd relented and tromped off with his backpack of things.
Once he'd left, she returned her attention back onto Law's group. "Alright, so you two are mechanics, right? Are cars the only thing you know how to fix?"
Law knew exactly what was coming the moment before it did, and he couldn't help the tiny up twitch at the corner of his mouth. Boy, was she in for it now.
It took less than a second for both boys to freeze and look her way. Shachi most of all had the dignity to look completely offended at her question. "Did you just…ask if we only knew…about cars?" He repeated emphatically, as if she'd asked him if he were a man. "Are you kidding me lady?"
Penguin was right on the same page as his companion, scoffing in obvious disgust. "What engineer knows only how to fix cars?"
"Is she serious right now?" Shachi asked his friend, raising both eyebrows in obvious doubt.
"Woah, ok. Looks like I touched a nerve there." Margaret chuckled a little, but Law could see the obvious surprise and confusion evident on her face. If only to spare the long list of things they did in fact know about, he stepped in to avoid having to listen to that particular string of conversation yet again.
"They know how to fix pretty much anything. You name it, they've worked on it."
"Even trailers?" She asked hopefully, eyes lighting up in excitement at the prospect. They both nodded eagerly.
"Easy peasy."
"What about architecture? Building structures?"
Penguin rubbed his chin, sharing a long look with Shachi as if looking for the right answer. "Hmm…depends on what it is. Got something in mind?"
Margaret gestured behind them at the entrance gate. "We could use a bit more structure to our defenses. There's a few places between some of that trailers that have started to break away."
"Oh, yeah we could definitely look into it."
"Perfect, I'll introduce you to our repairmen." Margaret smiled, leading them away towards yet another part of the camp.
They followed the line of trailers until they came upon two in particular, and the wall built between them. A pair of men were handling wooden boards and other scraps of metal to try to repair a break in the barricade.
"Shachi, Penguin, this is Alejandro," she gestured to a darker-skinned, young man of about twenty hammering a board into place in the side of the trailer; he glanced their way at the mention of his name, "and this is Terence." The other man looked their way, an older gentleman with thick metal-rimmed glasses and a receding hairline.
"Hiya, fellas." He said with a grin, holding up a hammer in greeting. "Are these the new ones, Margaret?" His gaze shifted over the three unfamiliar faces with interest, no doubt wondering just who these people were and if they were joining the group.
"Mhmm." She assured, turning back to her guests. "These two are the main fixers around here. Helped build up this wall when we first started getting things going."
The two mechanics of the group stood as they were introduced to Law's friends. They all shook hands and said their hellos, before the black-haired woman crossed her arms with a tilted head. "I want you two to show Shachi and Penguin around the place, see if they really know their stuff like they say they do."
"Sounds good." Alejandro nodded, wiping away at some sweat on his forehead from the previous work. There was a hint of a Spanish accent in his words, but it was almost unnoticeable.
Margaret gestured for Shachi and Penguin to follow her two men, and they lead them further away down the line of trailers disappearing behind two of them. Law felt uneasy being unable to see them, but he supposed they couldn't exactly be attached at the hip the whole time they were there. Still, he didn't like leaving his friends to the care of unknown persons.
Margaret must have sensed his discomfort, because she laid a gentle hand on his shoulder, snapping him from his thoughts. "Don't worry, we're not all psychotic killers, you know."
He raised a brow in an obvious gesture of being unconvinced and stepped away from her touch, not wanting to be so close with someone he knew nothing about. If she was offended by it, she didn't show it. "That is yet to be seen." He muttered just loud enough for her to hear." As he was quickly discovering to be just her personality, she chuckled and turned away, walking away from the trailer and heading in a different direction, forcing Law to follow.
"Well, I don't blame you for not trusting us. Two years out on your own and then suddenly," she gestured all around her, "you're surrounded by people? I'd be wary too. I totally understand."
Her last words there, I totally understand, they irked him, but he did nothing more than frown, continuing to follow her to whatever destination she had in mind.
It was another trailer, of course. Not much variety in terms of setting within the camp. This one looked remarkably clean compared to the other ones surrounding it, and he wondered what it was for. Margaret stepped up the few stairs leading to the door and knocked several times before opening it.
"Tara? You in here?" She called, pushing through the entryway and into the inside of the trailer. Law followed after, more curious as to what this camper served as within the camp. The white interior was spotless, almost all of the interior working completely stripped out.
Instead, he found himself walking into a makeshift infirmary, complete with a single cot-style bed and the original sink still in place at the other end.
A red-headed woman poked her head out from a curtain from where a bedroom would have been. "Yeah, sorry, just finishing up organizing the medications we've got." She gave a strange look at Law, and then disappeared back behind the curtain. Margaret wandered inside and inspected shelves that had been made specifically for the function of an infirmary, holding small containers of various medical items that required no electricity to run; cotton balls, bandages, swabs, etc.
"So, you were a doctor, huh?" She started, taking a seat on the cot, her legs dangling over the edge. Law continued to inspect the trailer, wondering how they took care of medical emergencies and other health issues. Just from a first glance, they had much more than he'd seen in one place in a long time. Ever since his days working at a modern, electricity-fueled clinic when the world hadn't descended into the dead coming back to life.
Remembering she'd asked a question, he nodded. "Yes, I was."
"Alright, so what kind?" She pried some more, bringing one leg to rest beneath the other, so only one dangled over the edge of the bed. "There's so many different types of doctors, you can't be an expert at everything."
He shrugged. "Cardiothoracic Surgeon."
Margaret paused a moment, squinting. "So…heart surgeon, right?"
He nodded again. "Essentially."
Before she could ask anymore questions, Tara reappeared from behind the curtain, pulling her red hair up into a pony tail. "What's up?" She once again glanced at Law, before turning her gaze back onto Margaret. "Who's this?"
"Tara, meet Law. He's one of the men who came in last night." Margaret gestured between them, and the redhead nodded in understanding.
"Oh, that's great!" She reached forward to shake his hand, and he only hesitated briefly in reciprocating. Then, Tara looked a little concerned. "Is there something I can do for you? If you're injured you should have come to me sooner…"
"No, I'm fine." He reassured, shaking his head quickly so she didn't misunderstand. "Margaret was just showing me around."
"Law here is a doctor. Certifiable." The woman in question supplied, grinning widely. "I was hoping you might be able to glean if he would be of any help around here."
Law spared her only a glance, raising a brow at her words. Well, at the very least Margaret didn't mince words. She was straight to the point. Tara sighed deeply, running a hand along her pony tail to straighten it out.
"Honestly, anyone would be a help around here, doctor or not." She shrugged, feeling a bit embarrassed. Her nervous laugh was a feeble attempt at covering it up. "I'm not medically trained or anything like that. I was the only one out of anyone here to have taken a medical anatomy class back in high school so…guess that makes me the expert, huh?"
"Don't sell yourself short. Without you around, we wouldn't be nearly as well off as we are." Margaret reassured, sending Tara a warm smile. This seemed to ease the woman's worries just a bit, because she didn't look quite as ashamed as before.
"Well, I'd certainly take the advice of a real doctor."
"Great, if he really knows his stuff, we'll let him and his friends stick around." The black-haired woman turned her gaze back onto him. "If someone comes in for any reason, let me know and we'll have him try a hand at it, just to make sure he's as trained as he says."
It was slightly irritating to be spoken about as if he wasn't around, and Tara had at least the courtesy to looked a little uncomfortable at the entire situation, but Margaret didn't seem like she cared either way. Then, she hopped off the cot and sighed.
"Well, I think I'll let you two get acquainted. In the meantime, I've got to meet with Marve and inventory our ammunition." She paused, seeing the incredulously expression Law was giving her. Obviously he couldn't understand how she'd be so willing to leave him alone with a member of her group without worrying about her safety. She smirked, reading his mind. "It's called trust, Law. Unlike you, I'm not afraid to extend it."
And with that, she walked past the two and out the door of the trailer. It clanked shut behind her, leaving Law alone with the redhead woman.
ns 15.158.61.12da2
