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Kas nodded, "yeah, you are right. i'll make sure to do a good job." he placed a little of the lotion on his fingers and checked by look and feel. "Aw, lad-these aren't the first to have hurt you, are they?" he could feel the old scars and he removed his finger, shaking his head. "poor kid. he's what, eighteen, nineteen? too young for this s**t." he shook his head and got some cream to help with the rips in his rectum. "things are going to be rough for a while. he's going to have a hard time taking a crap without reopening those wounds. i can't do much here, i'm no good at making medicine, but back at the base we'll get him hooked up. found a nice little underground cave with water we've been growing stuff in. got some medical herbs that should help out." he washed his hands and wrapped the blanket around the boy, "right. the firefight's dying down, we should be moving out here soon. keep him warm, and be ready to move."

Tom arrived at the meeting point and sought out Kas. the red head was getting up from where Hal was holding Momo and he had to smile at his timing. "everything taken care of?"

"Tom, welcome back. got him patched up the best i could. now he needs somewhere safe he can crash." Kas' relaxed at seeing his friend back, "is it done?"

Tom looked grim, "they are dead. refused to negotiate," he didn't like taking life but he also knew it was sometimes necessary. "let' get moving out. get the worst of them loaded up first, they need care." he glanced at Mun but then looked away, kneeling beside Hal instead, "we're going to take you back to our base. with those idiots gone, there is nothing to worry about. the area is secure and no one can come near us without our knowing. you and Momo will be safe." he smiled, "that is if you will continue to allow us to care for you."

Tom patted Hal's shoulder, "of course, my friend. thank you for trusting in us." he stood and nodded to Kas, "get everyone going. i want it cleared out in the next ten minutes."

Kas grinned and inclined his head before he turned to yell out orders, the already busy area suddenly getting busier as people hurried to obey.

"Alright, Hal, you and Momo come with me." he lead them to an old jeep that was purring smoothly, despite it's age. "you two in the front," he ordered as he got in the back seat. Kas and another man were loading Mun into the back seat, Kas hopping in after him to stabilize his head for the journey. he waited for Hal to get into the other side before driving off. "So, where are you two from? you're a pretty advanced android, far more so than anything in the city. you must be from one of those huge towns, right?"

"Hmm," Tom tthought for a second before speaking again, weighing the pros and cons of telling the android about them. he'd seen first hand that he didn't follow the three laws, so he could be a potential threat. It was the way Hal was holding Momo that helped him decide. it was almost loving, at least as loving as a robot could. "We're what used to be called 'army brats'. our grandfathers were military before the blast. thankfully, most of them were home when it happened and the effects were less here than most places. more people lived than died on the base, but when they saw the devastation of the outside world, they built up a wall and shut it out. we keep mostly to ourselves, passing down knowledge and training from generation to generation. thanks to that, we're better off than most. these cars and our weapons are proof of that." he smiled a little, "anyways, when that gang moved into town, the few people around the area that didn't join up either came to us for protection or were forced into slavery. we managed to sneak most of the slaves out, which is why they decided to try and take us on. you two unfortunately arrived at the exact wrong time. i'm sorry we didn't get to you first."

They were leaving the city itself, the base having been located a little less than a mile outside. Tom smiled brightly, "they're doing ok? we've been worried about them, once someone leaves, well-" Hal probably understood that it meant you would never see them again. "everyone will be glad to hear that they are still out there, spreading the word. we tried to convince them to stay, but they felt that finding others and telling them was more important. crazy old coons." he had a feeling that the women had left because they were both sick in a way they weren't able to treat and they hadn't wanted to waste away while friends and family watched. better a quick goodbye while they were still healthy, and the chance at helping a few people than that. "there we are, you can see the wall-" he pointed ahead to where the base was located. the wall was a little over eight feet tall, but it was almost six feet thick. Over the years they kept adding layers, steel plates, concrete, everything solid that would hold and last. they were considering adding height, but for now, this was enough.

the thick gates were opening when he flashed their lights at them in the code, letting them know it was safe. "we'll get the boys into the medical dorms as soon as we get there. we've some proper doctors waiting. they're so precious, we couldn't risk them out in the open like that, though we practically had to tie them down to keep them from coming."

"We literally had to tie Mama down. not looking forward to facing her after that," Kas added from the back.

Tom actually looked a little scared, "yeah. she's gonna kick our asses-" they pulled in and Tom drove them straight to the medical area where an elderly woman was waiting, her arms crossed. Tom paled further, "of course she is waiting for us."

"do we run?" Kas whispered.

"too late," Tom replied as Mama ripped open Kas's door.

"YOU!" both men flinched and she got grim satisfation from it, "i'll deal with out later. get your butts out and the injured into my dorm, you understand?" a duet of 'yes, ma'm' made her nod and she looked at the man she didn't know, getting out of the way so Kas and Tom could carry Mun in, "hello, dear. you must be the new guys. please, come in. i'd like to look you both over." in both instances her tone was motherly, at first it was sharp, but now it was soothing. "you've had a rough time, you poor things. let mama take care of you, hmm?" she walked around the car and held the door for the boy, "come, i'll make you some tea."

Mama smiled, "there is nothing to be afraid of dear. Well, not for you. those boys-" she sighed as she looked at the entrance where they were hurrying away, "they are in trouble, i promise you that! but you aren't, so don't be afraid, ok?" she patted Hal's shoulder, "let's get him inside and on a bed. i'll look at him there, ok?" she lead the way inside and to a long room with three rows of beds. "we only use this space for emergencies, but no one really knew what to expect at the end of the fighting, which is why i wanted to be there!" she shook her head and lead Hal to an empty bed at the end, "go ahead and lay him down, i'll take a look." she waited for Hal to do so, but when she saw the boy's body, she paused. her heart broke to see so much damage, and most of it was covered with bandages. "Kas take care of him?" she asked, suddenly whispering as she carefully checked for any broken bones and finding a few. his shoulder worried her, the level of bruising indicated it was dislocated, but she felt that it was in place. "what happened here?" his metal arm was interesting, but she would be of no use if there was damage to that part.

Mama shook her head a little, "not that one, silly boy, this one. was it dislocated recently?" the boy had been thrown onto a fire? that made the looseness of the bandages make more sense if they were covering burns and not wounds. she poked around a bit, but couldn't find anything to fix. the only thing she could do was place the flesh arm in a cloth sling that she bound tightly to his side to keep it from moving. "there's some bruises here that are worrying, he didn't get those from the fire..." he'd been someone's punching bag, and from what she could see, their play thing as well. she stroked the messy red hair and got out a comb. a chair was pulled to the bead of the bed and she began to bush it out carefully, making sure to not pull on the many tangles.

Mama glanced at the robot and could have sworn he looked...guilty. it must have been her imagination, no robot could feel something as complicated as guilt. "the base?" she glanced around and smiled a little, "since Helga. well, before that. it's been a military base for hundreds of years, but our community formed when the bomb went off." she finished with the hair and braided it before tying it off. she sat back and shook her head, "it was chaos that first year. no one knew what to do, or how to do it, but my father managed to pull everyone together. he was the commander of the base, so everyone looked up to him anyways, but things were still rough. it wasn't until a decade or two ago that we were able to have a steady food and water source. decades of digging, searching, and coming up short." it had been a hard time for them all. "since then, things have been a lot better. we've everything we need, right here, and for that we are grateful." she smiled a little at Hal, "What about you two? travelers such as yourselves are rare, where do you come from? why are you traveling?"

Mama just smiled and patted Hal's hand, "there is no manuel for how to raise a child. not before the blast and certainly not now. we all have to learn as we go, basing what we do off of what we've picked up along the way. That, son, makes you just as human as the rest of us."

"Mama?" Kas stood off to the side, looking a bit worried and when she turned her gaze on him, he swallowed, "uh-we've got Mun set up, but could you come look at him? he lost too much blood and has some burns."

Mama nodded, "i'm on my way. when i've finished, i'm going to have a talk with you and our idiot leader, so don't think about running away." she smiled at Hal again, "he just needs rest and time to heal, you can take a break and walk around if you want, there will always be someone near by." she patted his shoulder as she walked away and snatched Kas' ear, dragging him along to make sure he didn't run.