<strong>Ruth</strong><br/><br/>"I'll get you some stabs when you've been stabbed, Thigh-High," Ruth calls back. "'Til then you just work on adding more calcium in your diet, get big and strong when you finally grow up." The shot had made her hesitate, but only long enough to make sure they weren't planning to make it count. The usual crap, that's all.<br/><br/>Still, dangerous to leave them hanging with nothing in return. So just before she's passing out of sight below their perch, the cocoa angel tugs her top up for a flash of brown and darker brown. "My bullets are bigger anyway," comes her final remark on the subject, teasing the pair on watch with just the briefest glimpse of something more fun to do than bake and go blind in the sun before she's out of view completely.<br/><br/>Not that she keeps on walking through the compound that way. That'd be drawing the very wrong kind of attention in a pretty bad place to have it. Sure, Esther's place is secure enough against outside force - not that there's been a whole lot of that to challenge it lately. That don't mean it's any kind of safe haven for those inside, at least not those separate from the boss lady's roster. Fuck, even some of those can't catch a break when their higher-ups have a mind to have some fun at their expense. Nobody's bothered to clean up the stains around the rubbish pile alongside the gate from the last time she passed through; they've dried up, faded, but they're still there. Even faded red stands out on all that metal and pale clay.<br/><br/>The compound's sturdier stuff than the crapholes outside for the most part. Proper mortar's not always on hand, though, so mud and clay holds some patches together here and there. A lot of it's welded; Ruth's not really sure which option seems less likely to shatter one of these stormy days. She puts people together, not buildings. Doesn't seem real reliable either way, but maybe that's just how it looks. That's mostly the aesthetic stuff anyway, the bits just inside the perimeter wall. Past that is where things get hardcore.<br/><br/>Yeah, there's the heavy-duty, the wrought iron and rebar hashed together for an inner gate on layers of metal, fibreglass, cinderblocks, anything they could get their hands on for a give-no-fucks foundation for their "keep." Some of that shit used to be in the infirmary. Used to be. Not that there was any bad blood about it; they'd worked it out between the two of them, the give and take. Usually Ruth was the one giving, but Esther had a way of making it worthwhile.<br/><br/>Or, at the very least, making it up to her later.<br/><br/>Goosebumps are popping up already as her thoughts turn toward that last visit. Bad day that was. Put a wicked storm in a blender with some vehicular malfunctions, you end up with a lot of mangled bodies on Ruth's doorstep. Damn near cleared out her whole inventory and lost a couple along the way regardless; there just weren't enough hands to work on everyone needed attention. Not one of Esther's crew, though. All four of them cleared the night, if only barely. Their boss seemed to take it personal in the way that gets you in her good graces. Truth was, those four had been the worst off of anyone, so she'd had to work them first anyway, not that she said as much. Better to let the bad people in charge think they owe you one. Which is why she'd had the leverage to tell Esther she'd need a resupply, quick-like, to make up for the resource drain that catastrophe'd cost her.<br/><br/>The agreement was quick...but had a catch. Had to make the pickup herself at the compound. Real nice invitation to come pay a visit, get the goods and go home. Too easy, right? Right. Catch #2 was the 'stabs: Esther was willing to part with a fair number, enough to refill the lost inventory dealing with all those bleeders the day before, but only if Ruth was willing to test the package then and there. Seemed like a small enough price to pay, if a strange one. You could maybe get a kind of high off of that but those KO stabs weren't exactly popular for recreational use. Whatever, if that was what it took to get the supplies she needed more or less for free, Ruth could live with wasting one needle.<br/><br/>Things got...fuzzy after that, as you might imagine. The next day John told her some of Esther's people had dropped Ruth off at the infirmary that morning barely conscious, barely clothed and with a satchel full of the medical goods right next to her. She didn't talk to him about why they were being so blessed by their hardholder, what little she could remember of what happened.<br/><br/>That was a couple months ago. Esther had sent a casual offer to make a return visit now and then since, all politely declined so far. Now here she is, come calling without anyone asking her to drop by at all. Maybe this is a worse idea than she'd considered. Not too late to turn around yet...