"Well then, let's get to work," Flores said. "Liam, Jacob, you must be exhausted. Luc, would you please show Liam to his room? Jacob, please stay and have a word with me."

"C'mon, Liam, let's get you settled," Luc said, leading him from the conference room. When they were clear of the others, he opened up.

"Doesn't matter the clan," he said. "Politicians gonna politick."

Liam chuckled. "Jacob was just telling me I should consider politics," he said. "There was a time I would have told him he was out of his mind, but I'm well into the thick of it now."

"Its good to see you, Luc. Truly. I know twenty years ago we didn't always see eye to eye, but I have to say those nights seem almost quaint by comparison."

"Amen to that," Luc said. "I just wish the rest of my pack was around to see it." They made their way through the secure foyer, and out into the open compound. As they walked, Luc gazed up at the waning crescent moon.

"It's funny, I spent all those years taking in strays. And in the end, I was the one left wandering and alone."

Liam looked sideways at Luc. "Rock and the others...?" Liam had wondered what had become of the Pack. He'd presumed they'd skipped town when Redwatch took over the city, but now he imagined the worst.

"You aren't alone anymore."

Luc paused, wincing at the sound of the name. He shook his head. "You guys weren't the only ones who stayed to fight," he said. "Jacob offered to let us join up with him, but I was proud. Angry. Eager to prove to him that we'd been right all along. We did our own thing, and they picked us off one by one. By the time I let go of my rage, I was the only one left. I heard about this place, and... well, I've been here ever since. And yeah, I'm not alone anymore. But these have never been my kind of people. Same as they've never been yours."

"I'm sorry," Liam replied. "And you're right," he added, looking around the encampment. "These were never my kind of people. Tim was my kind of people. My Tim," he amended, to distinguish from Tim White. "Wyrmchaser."

"And Pockets."

"I was more at home with them than I ever was in polite society OR amongst our kind."

"Hold on to them," Luc said solemnly. "If that's even possible."

"I'm trying to," Liam concurred. He had to find Tim again first.

"What's the deal, here? Does the enclave run the whole township, or just the local sheriff's office to keep noses away from where they don't belong?"

"We stick to this compound," Luc said. "Our ghouls and their families live with us. We control the Sherriff's department and couple local Staties, which keeps their noses out of our business. They keep us safe in the day, we keep them safe in the night. And we all prepare for the end of days. These days, folks don't need much convincin' the world's gonna end. They don't even need to know about all the supernatural shit."

They arrived at their destination - a storm door at the end of a bunkhouse. This led down a short narrow staircase to what must have been a buried cargo container, before it was made livable with finished walls and all the furnishings a vampire would require - which was considerably more efficient considering he didn't need to breathe, cook, or use a bathroom.

"The accommodations aren't glamorous," he said. "But we get by. And we're prepared for whatever the world is gonna throw at us."

Liam switched on the electric lights and looked around his accommodations. "Better than anything I've been able to wrangle in the city," he said approvingly. "I wasn't kidding that they have eyes and ears everywhere. Redwatch found my old Haven in Riverhead and rigged it to blow. Trying to find a new one is what got me into the mess I'm currently in."

"I've mostly kept to the woods, but a man has to eat. At least, I used to have to."

Luc rapped his knuckles on the bar fridge in the corner. "Freshly stocked," he said. "And do let me know if you need more. Can't send you out on assignment without a full belly."

The apartment was narrow and spartan. A bed, a desk with an office-style telephone, a chair and television were the only notable furnishings, apart from the mini-fridge. The storm door at the top of the stairs locked from the inside.

"Something tells me you're not interested in the wifi password," Luc said. "If you need anything, just dial zero."

Liam set his bag down on the desk and tugged on the zipper. "Care for a nightcap?" he asked, tugging out the remains of a bottle of Jack's Finest Tennessee Whiskey. "Nabbed it off a Redwatch sniper. Not much left in the bottle I'm afraid, but I'd be glad to share."

"God damn," Luc said with a chuckle. "I haven't seen this stuff in years." He took a seat in the chair, leaving the edge of the bed for Liam. "So how is old Jack anyway?"

Liam handed the bottle to Luc for want of a glass. "He left the city," Liam said. "Wizard business. But still doing God's work with a copper still."

Luc took a pull from the bottle, winced, and handed it back. "Ooh, that's good. Good enough for the fascist death squads to keep looking the other way. Man's a wizard, all right. Managed to make himself indispensable to a group that sees humans as disposable."

He cleared his throat. "I'm glad to be going back. I feel like the tide is finally turning."

Liam smiled and raised the bottle to his lips. "Its early still. I feel as though we have a chance again, but its going to be an uphill climb the whole way."

"Still, its a far sight better than where we were before."

Liam looked down at the bottle, swirling it around in the light of the bunker.

"Presuming we do succeed, that's when it gets really interesting. We'll have to figure out what comes next."

"I imagine it's going to be the same for us, here," Luc said. "Hell, we might even get more interest."

He took another sip. "One thing's for sure, once Jack can advertise this stuff he's gonna make a mint."

"Good time to buy shares now while its cheap," Liam said with a grin.

"I don't doubt you about this place. There's a mentality this side of the border that drives people to build walls and hunker down behind them. Its practically a psychosis. Even without the bloodbond I'm sure you'd have no shortage of takers."

"The challenge has always been separating the people who want to prepare for the apocalypse from the people who want to go out and make it happen," Luc said. "We had a lot of trouble getting started here, as you can imagine. A lot of preppers are just anarchists waiting for an opportunity. I think we got a pretty good bunch here, though."

"That's good to know," Liam said. "Depending on the fallout in Verdant Falls, I may need a retrofitted shipping container to bed down in." He rapped the back of his knuckles on the wall. It made a decidedly hollow sound.

Liam took another swig and then handed the rest of the bottle to Luc. "May as well finish it," he said.

"You'll always have a place here," Luc said, gladly obliging Liam by killing the bottle. He tucked the empty under his arm. "I've been talking you up since Hector came back. You're kind of a big deal around here."

"I suppose that explains the looks we got as we pulled in," Liam said with a grin. "I'd thought maybe you just didn't get many visitors."

"Hector was much warmer this time as well. I don't think he knew what to make of me that night in the helicopter, or the evening after."

"From what I gather, his pride was wounded when he woke up," Luc said. "That's just secondhand, though. We aren't that close. I have a feeling that is going to change, if we're going back to Verdant Falls together."

"I'd say that's probably true," Liam replied. "And fair enough."

"Lets see what comes of Montreal."

Happy to advance whenever you like

Luc stood, taking the empty with him. "Indeed, we will," he said. "Sleep well, and if I don't see you before you leave, good luck out there."

[2 xp for the scene, max out your BP, and add a temp WP if you aren't full.]