[Mission 002] Video/Action - Joint for Sam and Simon

[voiceinthedark]

[Sam switches on the camera and tries to set it up so it’s not horribly blurry and smiles at the camera when he thinks he’s got it right.]

God it feels weird to not be telling someone to raise the gates.

Uh... hi? So, I’ve been in Luceti a week now. Maybe a bit more and I was just wondering about, well, the houses are nice but they’re not very secure and I wanted to know if anyone knows how I’d go about finding stuff like fencing, barbed wire, concrete....

[A voice interrupts from the background as Simon starts to protest.] What? Oh no. No, you are not concreting up my damn windows, Sam. I’m putting my foot down. No. N-O.

It’s a weak point, Simon! Points of entry, that’s what Janine always says. You need as few as possible.

[The journal is jostled a moment before Simon’s exasperated face appears in the feed, giving Sam a Look.] Which is great. Awesome. Janine’s the voice of annoying reason as always, but I’m sure we can think of a better way of securing them in case of emergency that still allows us to enjoy the fresh air and actual sunlight when it’s, y’know, not.

[Which has his attention turning to the journal feed and giving it an apologetic look.] Please excuse him, he doesn’t get out much.

[Sam positively glares at him, a look of long time exasperation and why does he have to deal with this idiot?]

I get out plenty! Well, I mean, not at home obviously because oh yeah, apocalypse! I’m pretty sure a lot more people would be alive if they’d had concreted windows before the end of the world.

Oooor we might have all mutated into some strange sort of psychotic mole-men instead. [Simon rolls his eyes.] The point is, we’re looking to secure the house a little bit better than it currently is and if anyone has any suggestions on where to get the materials to do that, we’d appreciate it.

Mol- do you ever listen to the stuff that comes out of your mouth?

Never. [Simon’s grin is cheeky and unrepentant.] Speaking of houses, we should have a party here, since we’ve now got an actual one and we’re not likely to end up on the menu. How’s tonight sound? Good? Good! Open invitation to a grill-out on the lawn of House 33. Swing by, bring beer or food if you like, it’ll be all casual-like.

What? You- you can’t just spring a party on people! This is the first I’ve heard about it!

That’s because I just made it up. And sure I can. Be spontaneous, Sam! Live a little! 5 o’clock sounds good, right?

Oh god, this is gonna be like a couple of weeks ago in New Canton isn’t it? With the hula hoops.

[Simon’s smirk takes on a wicked edge for a moment as he flicks a glance sideways at Sam.] Nope. It’ll be even better. I need to go get things.

[And with that, he vanishes abruptly out of the feed.]

[Sam sighs, rubs his forehead and gives the video a pleading look.]

Please don’t encourage him? He’s good enough at doing that himself. Although I suppose it has been a while since I’ve been to a proper party.

But yeah... security. Thanks for any help.

[He pauses for a moment, looking like he’s trying to think of what to say, because ‘Stay Safe’ is Jack and Eugene’s thing and ‘welcome home’ just doesn't work so he settles for another smile and then cuts the feed.]


Action
[Simon and (grudgingly) Sam can be found around the village for the rest of the afternoon, collecting food and drinks for their impromptu party. And later on they can be found on the lawn of House 33, where the burgers are cooked and the booze flows freely and there are not yet fences and barbed wire and sealed up windows.]

Comments

[voiceinthedark]

That would be nice. Although I kind of miss the radio. [It's true though. There's something freeing about not having to worry about life or death situations every day.

He gives a small smile at that.]

It's true though. And sometimes I have to uh- clear up. Afterwards. But it's my job and every time I bring them back safe it's worth it.

[handing]

You haven't talked to Eugene and Jack about their show? [She can't imagine the pair saying no to Sam, even if it's not the traditional method of radio broadcasting. Of course, that itself could be the issue.]

Good. You should get something rewarding out of it too. [Pepper neatly avoids that mention of cleaning up. It's clear what he means, but not something she wants to dwell on at all.]

[voiceinthedark]

No, not really. I think they mentioned something but, yeah. Their radio show at home is something I look forward to. They do good work. But you can't tell them I said that.

[Considering how grudgingly he'd patched them through to Runner 5 back at the start.]

I get to stay alive. And eat and stuff. That's a pretty good reward.

[handing]

Cross my heart. [Although Pepper grins a bit at Sam’s worry that Eugene and Jack will end up with bragging rights.]

I guess it would be. [She remembered how hard it had gotten before she’d been infected, after all. To be in that situation all the time—Sam probably had the best position someone could manage, even with the weight of his responsibility.]

[voiceinthedark]

Things're going pretty well recently though! I mean, before we got blown up and had to start working with New Canton. Although we have plans now. Maxine's magic formula.

[handing]

Getting blown up isn’t usually conducive to things going well.  [Although Sam had mentioned it was before then, he still seemed pretty optimistic even in the aftermath.  The mention of the other place made her curious, however.]  What’s New Canton?

[voiceinthedark]

Well, there is that. We're still rebuilding. And New Canton is another settlement. It's a really big one too. They took over a castle a few kilometers from Abel. Seventeen thousand people. It- well, freaks me out just thinking about it honestly.

[handing]

[She almost asks why—almost, until Pepper remembers how quickly the infection had spread in the hospital. She’d nearly gotten caught by it then, and suddenly she can understand all too well why that huge number is so terrifying.] Wow. That’s incredibly dangerous, isn’t it? I mean, it’s good if they can make it work, but…all those people.

[All those potential victims if things went wrong.]

[voiceinthedark]

Well, yeah. I mean, they have decent screening for newcomers and runners and the symptoms usually show up fairly quickly. But... if it got loose in a place that size the other settlements around them, we wouldn't survive. Red Settlement fell and that was just three hundred and it was still almost more than we could cope with.