My heated internal debate did a good job of eating up the journey home, to the point where I had to stop myself from muttering as I pulled up next to Nolan’s truck, using the last light of the day peeking over the treetops to guide me in.

“You took your time,” Nolan remarked with obvious relief after I’d climbed out of the van, “I was starting to think I’d have to drive up there to find you.”

I went to respond but was cut short by the sound of a chainsaw roaring from somewhere nearby, prompting me to grab my gun and get ready for another, more dangerous Ghoul machine.

“What you doin’ there, buddy?” Nolan asked while I looked around, the chainsaw’s whirring practically impossible to pinpoint as it bounced around the trees and boulders.

“Do you not hear that?” I questioned with more panic in my voice than I care to admit.

Nolan tilted his head confusedly, making me genuinely wonder if I’d been infected with some kind of crazy virus by the Reformed, before letting out a knowing “Ah,” and nodding, “yeah, that’d be Connie.”

Letting out a sigh of relief, I smiled and loosened up my shoulders, “Right, of course,” I replied embarrassedly, scratching the back of my neck as I did, “so everything’s coming along then?”

“Darn tootin’, Connie was happy as a bear in a trout farm when she heard we were doing construction,” Nolan chuckled, “well, by ‘heard’ I mean…”

“I get it,” I said after a few seconds of Nolan trying to find his words, “what about Liz and Millie, they alright?”

“Mostly,” Nolan replied unconvincingly, “they weren’t too happy about the shower situation at first, until they washed up, that is. And you’d think they’d been starving for days the way they scrambled for the groceries. Swear I almost lost a hand.”

“Heh,” I huffed amusedly at Nolan’s half-joke, “they get burned at all?”

“Not in the least,” Nolan said, shaking his head, “we waited ‘til the sun was mostly gone, and I’m guessing they used the umbrella.”

“You guess?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Nolan replied, “you think I’m some kind of peeping Tom? I gave ‘em their space after letting them know it was safe to come out. Besides, even if I were so inclined, I wouldn’t peep on them.”

“Smart,” I said with a nod, “I can’t say for certain, but I doubt life with your face ripped off is quite worth seeing a couple of breasts.”

“Says you,” Liz called out from where she stood in the cabin’s doorway in a new shirt and jeans, before looking down and grabbing her breasts confidently, “I for one think these are positively to die for.”

“You’re hilarious,” I chuckled on my way over to her, smiling and waving at Nolan as he took Liz’s arrival as his cue to head back to his trailer, “got any food left for me?”

“Mmhm,” Liz replied after clearing her ear of water with her pinkie, gesturing for me to follow her inside, “did a simple spaghetti-type thing.”

“Sounds delicious,” I said as my body realized how hungry it was, “you guys get the notification for the job?”

“We did,” Liz sighed on her way down the hatch, “Peterson though? Really?”

“Hey, that’s what there was on the board,” I replied, propping my gun up against the doorway next to the shotgun Nolan had evidently loaned to Liz once again, “as soon as we hit level five, we’ll start picking up the real jobs again.”

“Until then we’ll just have to risk getting shot at by our clients, I guess.” Millie murmured over the comic she was reading while waiting to dry off by the fire.

“That happened once,” I scoffed, “and it was an honest mistake.”

“The honest mistake being that Jim can’t handle his liquor and was convinced we were some new breed of Chupacabra,” Liz clarified as I tried to figure out was missing from our little hole, “anyway, food’s in a pot over the fire.”

“Where’d you get that?” I asked, grabbing a bowl from the chair next to the fire.

“Nolan brought it all down,” Millie replied distractedly, “figured keeping the food cooking until we got a fridge and what have you set up upstairs was better than letting it go to waste.”

“I suppose,” I said with a nod as I ladled out a decent helping of the soupy ‘spaghetti’ before finally realizing what was missing, “the tub!”

“Pardon?” Liz asked.

“I’ve been trying to… Doesn’t matter,” I chuckled, helping myself to a spoonful of the surprisingly good soupghetti, “where’d the tub go?”

“Ah,” Liz let out knowingly as she went and took a seat on the mattress, “yeah, Nolan and Connie needed it for wiring, piping, that sort of thing. Should’ve been here when that belcher tore it apart, was truly something.”

“Oh, I’ve seen Connie work before,” I remarked, realizing only then that it had actually been some time since I’d seen Connie, “didn’t get to talk to him much about it, but Nolan give you guys any sort of timeline?”

“It was kind of hard to talk with all the carving and engine sounds,” Liz replied unsurely, “but I think he mentioned it’d be up within a couple of days. As much as I love the man, he’s still got that contractor-ness that makes him hard to talk to.”

“What do you mean?” I choked past a particularly hard chunk of pasta, “Other than my sister, he’s probably the easiest person to talk to I’ve ever met.”

“Yeah, about life and stuff,” Liz remarked matter-of-factly, “but I’m talking about the construction side of things. It might just be me, but I feel like an asshole whenever I try and pull a date of completion from them.”

“Oh, yeah, no, I get that,” I agreed, “still though, I’m sure he’d tell you if you asked.”

“Well, why don’t you ask?” Liz suggested pointedly.

“I…” I trailed off before finishing the last of my meal and setting my dish down next to the others on the chair, “Alright, I see your point.”

“Thank you,” Liz said, nodding as she leaned back on her hands, “so, you going to have a shower?”

“Before the job?” I asked confusedly, “Seems a bit redundant, doesn’t it?”

“Let me answer your question with another question,” Millie said, setting her comic down on her lap, “when was the last time you had a shower?”

“Exactly,” Liz agreed, “and how many pairs of clean clothes do we have?”

“And did you not drive up to the Reformed?” Millie asked.

“Where you were close to Ghouls?” Liz added.

“Alright, alright,” I chuckled, “I see your point. Have we at least got towels down here?”

“Mmhm,” Millie replied, tapping the pile behind her, “got some fresh clothes as well. Figured you’d want to shower as soon as you got back.”

“Yeah, instead of arguing about it like some grimy teenager.” Liz mocked.

“Didn’t I already say I’m going?” I jokingly retorted, catching the towel Millie threw my way, “Want me to get coffee or something while I’m up there?”

“Already had one,” Millie said, picking her comic back up, “just come back quickly, don’t need you freezing to death before the job.”

“Naw, love you too.” I replied on my way back up the ladder, “See you in a minute.”

“How about you make it two,” Liz scoffed, “don’t need you stinking it up down here.”

“I have feelings,” I lightheartedly sighed before climbing up into the cabin, “you know that, right?”

“Yes, well we have senses.” Millie called up.

“Strong ones,” Liz added, “so hurry up and shut the hatch. You’re wafting.”

Doing as she asked, I couldn’t help feeling they wanted me gone for some reason, but with my piddling Intelligence, a gut feeling was about as good as I was going to get.

On the plus side, I got a little taste of the solid gut sense that came with a better Int, one that was sure to treat me better in combat and hunting than in the social minefield that was being in a relationship.

Honestly though, once I’d gotten undressed and set up in what was essentially a camping shower, I immediately regretted not sticking more points in my Toughness and Fortitude.

But hey, at least I didn’t squeal.

Well, not loudly.