<div style="text-align: center">《 Rebel 》<br/>
<i>Location: Shuttle pick-up location<br/>
Addressing: Rachel, Ezra, Tobias</i>​</div><i> <br/>
<br/>
"Oh, sweet baby Jesus! Can this woman ever shut up?" </i>lamented Rebel internally. He didn't know what he despised more, the fact that Rachel seemed to think this was all black and white, or the fact that a lot of what she was saying was truthful. He<i>didn't</i>know if the other communities would take these people in. All he knew was that there was a neutral zone that he and some other outer patrol used when they were out too far and couldn't get back before nightfall.<br/><br/>For all he knew, the mountain clans might just throw them out to the wolves.<br/><br/>He blinked at her slowly, resisting the urge to step away. The 'Lieutenant Rebel' shot hurt bad, and he didn't know how, or why, she knew that he had been waiting on those test results when the world went to crap. But whatever the reason, the lump that closed the bottom of his throat kept him from saying anything when Tobias and Ezra returned.<br/><br/><i>"Thank God," </i>he fumed.<br/><br/>"Took you long enough," he said, eying the two suspiciously. They looked like they didn't understand that they were going to be hoofing it for a while – their bags were loaded like they were moving house, not running for their lives.<br/><br/>For someone who Rachel claimed didn't care about her, it seemed he knew her well enough. Or at least knew her brother. She answered Ezra that she stayed while the others left so Ezra wouldn't think that they had all abandoned her, and Rebel couldn't stop himself from snarking. "I thought you said he didn't care about you. You seem to care enough about<i>him</i>."<br/><br/>Tilting his head and raising an eyebrow, Rebel gave Rachel and<i>"I told you so" </i>look when Ezra thought she was carrying a gun. He rested his hands on his waist. They couldn't get going fast enough for him. Maybe Sou was already at the gate. He worried about her, despite their spat. There was no way she was going to make it on her own out there, and if he had to eat half his rations and give her the other half, he was going to make sure she was taken care of.<br/><br/><i>"If you wouldn't mind?"</i>Ezra's voice cut through Rebel's thoughts. Glancing over, he saw the hand and the look of expectation on the freckled face. Ezra looked like he had been upset; eyes red, nose pink, a look of being lost in those eyes…it looked like more than just the results of being kicked out.<br/><br/>"Ah, sure," Rebel answered. Index finger straight, he retrieved the sidearm from beneath his shirt, then palmed the barrel and slide and handed it to Ezra, barrel slightly down. "There's one in the chamber." He glanced over at Tobias and remembered the fight he had with Sou over scheduling a meeting with the man. He was a counselor or something. She had told him to go fix himself before trying to fix them. Maybe she was right. Maybe things would have worked out differently.<br/><br/>"No problem," his palm met Ezra's. A simple shake, then release.<br/><br/>Rachel's little snide remark made him turn and glare at her. Was she one of Sou's friends? Was this what this was? He was just about to bark back at her when she dug the dagger deeper and made him regret offering to help.<br/><br/>"You got a problem with Sou?" His eyes narrowed. "Because if you do, quit it. You're acting like a child. And if your problem's with me, leave her name out of it, do you understand?<i>She</i>didn't do this to you. It's not<i>her</i>fault you're being told to leave. For all I know you could have been stealing drugs out of the clinic and got found out." He couldn't figure out what Hale's metric was for who stayed and who was thrown to the wind, but he had been hearing rumors that they were dangerously low on meds.<br/><br/>He turned back to Ezra and Tobias. "Dan Thompson's at the gate gathering people together to travel to a temporary camp. You can go out on your own or go with us, it doesn't matter to me." Once he knew they understood, he took off towards the armory. Hopefully there would be no issues with getting his weapons.