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<br/>
A quick, compliant nod and a grateful look made up Maggie's response to the Lieutenant's decision, and she watched the woman turn away as she went to deal with the newcomer outside the gate. She made note of the name of the man with the violin -- Elias.<br/>
<br/>
Part of her wanted to stay and see what happened, but she had no desire to get on Havenshire's bad side by disregarding instructions. Not to mention she was hungry, and she knew Areion wanted something to eat too.<br/>
<br/>
She glanced to Kepler just in time to see him motion towards the house, which she now had a moment to observe as they began walking towards it. This time she and her horse walked more in step with the man, though Maggie still kept herself between the two. Not because she was worried Ari would try to hurt him, but because he'd just said those two specific words again and the gelding had started to try and step in his direction, as though he might attempt searching for the feed himself.<br/>
<br/>
The question that followed wasn't what took her by surprise -- it was the sound of her own name coming from someone else's mouth. Maggie stared at Kepler mutely for a second, shaking off the weird feeling that came with hearing her name aloud. <br/>
<br/>
"Ah--" The woman blinked, running her free hand through her hair as she glanced away, trying to remember what he'd asked. Her face scrunched up briefly in an expression of thought before she shrugged a bit. <br/>
<br/>
"I've been out there 'bout since it started, I guess," she answered gradually. "I was working in Montana then, and as soon as things started going to crap I tried to come home to my parents and sisters -- they lived here, in Alabama. It took me a couple of months with all the chaos."<br/>
<br/>
The words were spilling out, the initial answer opening a floodgate for the rest. Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew she should probably wait to explain everything to the woman in charge, but her current admission was already in effect.<br/>
<br/>
"When I got home they were -- it was... They didn't make it."<br/>
<br/>
She didn't want to think about it. Her blurting was briefly stunted by the unwelcome memories, though she swiftly attempted to move on.<br/>
<br/>
"So I just... started wandering. I ran into some small survivor groups and we headed back out west at first, but things are... things are bad out there in the West, Midwest, in certain places. It's kind of gone back to wild west governing, y'know? And there are gangs... hustlers. I ran into some of them."<br/>
<br/>
Maggie's gaze had passed to the middle distance as the spoke, her hand sliding from her hair to flex absently at her side; the scarred flesh of her palm stretched and folded as her hand moved, an expression of distaste crossing her features. Memories like nightmares tried to flit through her mind, images burned into her head trying to flash behind her eyes and suffocate her. She inhaled sharply, focusing on the reins gripped in her right hand instead of anything else. If she thought about that... then she really would be sick.<br/>
<br/>
"But I got away... we got away." Maggie blinked, glancing over at Ari. "We ran into each other out there. That was about... a year ago? Year and a half? Something like that. Since then we've been..."<br/>
<br/>
At last her rambling stalled. What <i>had</i> they been doing, really? Just surviving, she supposed. She hadn't known what else to do. It was funny how easily staying alive had become her entire existence.<br/>
<br/>
Maggie shrugged vaguely, finishing, "We've just been wandering around. I try to help people, when I can, but it's been a while since I've seen anyone who needed it."<br/>
<br/>
Hand still flexing at her side, as if she were stretching out some kind of ache, the cowgirl glanced over at Kepler. She doubted he'd just been making idle conversation... More than likely he was doing some interrogation of his own, but she supposed she couldn't expect anything else. <br/>
<br/>
That didn't stop her own curiosity from bubbling up, and with an inquisitive tilt of her head she asked, "How long have you been here? In Havenshire?"<br/>
<br/>
He and the boss lady were definitely familiar with each other... She wouldn't be surprised if he was some kind of second-in-command. If he wasn't, he definitely could be. He carried himself like someone who knew what he was doing, much like the Lieutenant. <br/>
<br/>
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text-align: center;">「 maggie james 」</div></div><div style=" margin: auto; margin-top: 5px; height: 10px; max-width: 100%; text-align: center; font-size: 8px;">Code by wren</div>