Welcome to Gaia! ::

Most of the things on this playground are broken, but feel free to play at your own risk.

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On his way towards the storing and trading company to tell Rabid that the reward for a bounty had been delivered, Geoff decided to cut through a small field that brought him to an old barely standing playground. The strap of the messenger bag weighing a bit down on his shoulder as it carried every piece of equipment he had on him besides his pistol, which sat comfortably in his coat pocket, the handle just barely hanging out, which gave an amateurish look about him but he was anything but. People would do anything to survive in the modern world, so it wasn't entirely uncommon to see someone with a weapon fairly visible on their person, it was the ones that didn't have a weapon you could see that you should worry about. Passing by the playground he caught an unusual sight, a child actually playing in the charred, twisted metal that only those with a good imagination would call a slide, a light chuckle escaped him as he shook his head. He hadn't noticed the woman standing beside the slide until just now, feeling like he must be getting rusty since he missed someone who was a potential threat. She was on lookout, most likely guarding the kid, whether it was hers or not was still unknown, it seemed like adoption was a very common act nowadays, some of the more kind, or guilt-ridden, survivors would take in the newly orphaned to raise them as their own.

Adjusting the messenger bag as the weigh was starting to cause Geoff's shoulder to ache, cursing under his breath that Rabid had made him venture so far out, but if anybody had experience with that sort of thing it was him. A sigh decided to take a momentary break, walking up to a nearby object which he assumed to either be a bench permanently stuck at an odd 65 degree angle pointing slightly upwards or some sort of broken plaything of the park, shrugging as he'd rather not question it and sat down, tossing his messenger bag off to the other side of the bench. Geoff debated whether he should let his guard down with these two around, he'd be in a few scenarios where a child was only used to make the target think lesser of the threat level around them, he closed his eyes sticking his hands into his coat pockets, one hand gripping his pistol while the other pushed against a crumpled piece of paper with the address of his job on it.

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The sounds of footfalls in the sand caught his attention as he heard them get closer, the fingers on his left curled around the crumpled piece of paper in his coat pocket, while the other hand's thumb hovered over the safety of his pistol. As he heard her voice ask what he was doing here he cracked open a single eye, scanning her for any visible weaponry, it seemed as though one hand was behind her mostly likely reaching for a small weapon like a handgun or knife, it was hard to tell at this angle. His eye glanced over to the child that she referred to, "No business here per say, just taking a break from my last run" he explained bluntly, his eye returning to the woman in front of him. She was a few feet away from the bench, which didn't give her the advantage if she was using a melee weapon, but a firearm would put her in the perfect distance as he would need to either pull his own gun out or push himself off the bench in order to knock the gun from her hand, either choice would most likely result in a bullet to his head. Deciding that he would rather not take any chances he slowly pulled his left hand from his pocket, the crumpled piece of paper in his hand, he extended it out for her to take "I'm a messenger for the trading and storage company, I just got back from my last run from one of the Northern settlements, if you want proof its all right there" he stated, since very few places had papers with the seal of the trading and storage company on it, a few forgeries here and there to attract wanderers to a location where they can be easier ambushed.

The paper read:
White, we had a wanderer come in from the North, he asked about a bounty that we had posted up, word says he got the b*****d and wanted to collect, but supposedly he's hiding away to keep the bounty's friends from finding him. I need you to head up North and find him, when you do, confirm the kill and give him his reward, take your gun with you, I got a weird feeling about this one. -Rabid

Luckily, when White went up North he found the guy hiding out in a cellar of the charred remains of a farmhouse, the corpse of the bounty resting in the fireplace with a few fresh bullet wounds in his chest and stomach. Afterwards White had paid the man and came back South to report back in at the shop, collect his own pay for rushing out for far away just to look at a corpse, the shortcut had led him through the park and now here he was, conversing with a woman that he had yet to decide was still a threat or not.

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As the woman took the paper and read it Geoff's eye scanned the area, no signs of movement and no sounds were both a good thing and a bad thing, good as it meant that there were no others nearby that would catch him off guard, bad as in it was possible they were just good at keeping themselves out of his sight. Once she had finished reading and handled back the paper he took it back, stuffing it into his pocket once more, not like he would need it anymore but perhaps he could jot down something... if he had a pen or something to write with. He heard small footsteps coming towards him, his eyes drawn towards the source of the sound, it was the little girl that was with the woman, her question causing him to chuckle slightly "No, I'm not going to hurt anybody, not my job" he answered, his hand loosening on the grip of his pistol before he completely withdrew his hands from his pockets, the pistol's grip hanging loosely from his pocket now.

Crossing his arms over his chest, Geoff opened his other eye now glancing down at the girl, "I think its best if Mr. Stuffins stays with you, but thank you for trusting me with him" he replied, flashing a comforting smile, he tried to keep as friendly as possible, to avoid any sort of negative responses. He pulled his attention away from the little girl and back up to the woman, "Guess its best if I gave you my name, I'm Geoff" he stated, offering his name to the woman, since it was only the polite thing to do, he saw no reason to be so distant, it was best to get to know the people around here, the community was growing over the past few weeks and knowing who was and wasn't a threat was the best way to continue surviving.

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Geoff nodded his head in understanding as Chloe explained their situation, "I got here about... a week, give or take, theres a motel not too far from the shop" he explained, only knowing this since hes had to stay there for that week. He looked over towards his bag and slid it closer to where he was sitting, digging his hands through its contents to be sure that he still had all of his supplies on him, "If you're looking for work theres always the bounty board at the shop, complete a task and you'll be paid, although you'd best know how to handle yourself under fire, most jobs are the dangerous sort." he added, telling her all the information she'd need regarding to the trading companies bounty board, although he didn't look up at her, instead he was still digging through his bag, nodding his head once he believed everything was in its place.

Returning his attention onto Chloe he couldn't help but wonder something, "Where are you guys coming from?" he asked, if she was from the East like he was then she might have heard of his past affiliation with the Maniacs gang, if so, he'd need to keep that tidbit from coming up.

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Geoff fell silent for a second when Chloe told him they were recently in the Eastern settlements, and that they had come into contact with the Maniacs, it seemed as though they may have been moving closer this way by the information she gave, Geoff may have to relocate again. When she looked away he cursed under his breath, he thought he had finally got rid of them thinking they would only be wasting resources trying to find him, but they must've wanted something from him, perhaps to make an example of deserters. He shook his head, a half-hearted smile on his face, "Gangs come and go nowadays, they'll be gone within weeks" he remarked confidently, but he didn't believe it himself, he had run with that gang for several years, the pay was good and his work was simple, he only left because he felt that he needed to move on with his life.

Geoff nodded his head as Chloe thanked him for being so helpful, "I know whats its like to get into a new city and information is usually scarce, might as well get all that out of the way so you know where everything is." he explained shrugging lightly, it wasn't uncommon for him to stop someone when he entered a new territory and ask about everything, much to their own annoyance, but hey, how else is he going to get any answers? He slowly returned to his feet, picking his bag up and hanging the strap over his left shoulder as always, "Getting pretty late actually, want me to give you the quick tour before I head back into the shop?" he offered, since he was going back now, he might as well make sure that any newcomers know where they'll be staying and where they can resupply over time.

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