The Survivor and Safehaven (Gunner x TheCrimsonLady)

Mia snuggled closed to him as he pulled her down to him, smiling softly as he played in her hair, sprinning the curls from time to time.

"I'd be worried if you didn't have a bit of a problem sharing me with every other woman here, doll. That's just human nature, and I know it's not easy for you, especially since you know how important it is. But you don't need to be jealous; they may get to play with me, you're the only one I spend the night with. So enjoy spending the night, because you're the only one who gets to do it."

Mia smiled, hearing him yawn though his chest. It was good to know he didn't think her crazy, or even possessive. It bothered her, but now, she felt better and for the moment, she didn't think of her jealousy, she didn't have a reason to be jealous. They were a tool for him, a device, but she was something he wanted, that she got to keep.

"Now, I've got an early morning, and you've got a civilization to run." He said and she smiled. "Alright, " She said, looking up at him, "Goodnight, my love." She told him before kissing him sweetly.

"'Night love." Eric muttered, already half-asleep.




Eric was up before dawn the next morning, slipping out of the bed & dressing without waking Mia. He gathered his gear, including his weapons from the armsroom, and was to the dock before the sun rose, the only person on the docks as he started prepping their largest boat for a day's work; topping off it's fuel and loading a couple extra jerry fans just in case. When the other women finally arrived, he was standing on the dock next to the boat, heavily armed, paging through a grubby notepad.

Mia awoke finding Eric having left to start his day already. She wished he would tell her he was leaving. She didn't like waking up without him, especially after the things he said last night.

She pulled herself from the bed, and got to start her day. She noticed Eric prepping boats for his run. It gave her a sick feeling in her stomach, but she swallowed it.

It was then that Patch walked up to her. "This is a bad idea."
"No it's not, it'll be quick." She said to her and Patch rolled her eye. "Take a small team, women you trust, he said it'll be an easy run."

"That's not what I meant." Patch said and she walked off toward Eric and Mia sighed. She understood Patch's mistrust of him, better then anyone. They both were in the same place, mercy of lesser men, but Patch held to that mistrust, Mia wouldn't. She saw the man behind the savagery, especially since there was none. Not that it mattered. She was lending him anyway. He belonged to her.


Patch walked up to Eric, a small group of women behind her. Her best soldiers. "Doc said this was gonna be easy so let's get this over with." She said. "What are we getting?"

"One of the fancier marinas was in the process of adding solar power systems to get a fat government check. Everything went to shit before they could install, but most of the materials are onsite. Several dozen panels, a little over 5x3. Those would be the primary target, then some of the cabling & other components if we have time & space. Without a battery bank the panels will only be useful when the sun's out, but even then it'll lesser our gas consumption. The materials are about 100-150 meters from the slip where we'll dock, and they aren't very common in the area. It's got some good lines of sight, so with a couple sentries we should have advanced warning of they try to come up on us."

He looked down at his notepad again, cocking his head before continuing.

"If it does go to shit; primary exfil will be by boat, the way we came. Secondary will be to ditch gear & swim out to get picked up by the boat; those fuckers don't swim. Tertiary will be to go down the main drag a block, turn right onto Winters Street and go down about a block & half to Dean's Electronics. There's a storage cage in the back with some supplies where you can lock yourself in & wait for us to regroup & extract you.

No commo on this; but we outta be close enough to yell. If the sentries catch contact, start shooting and pull back. Gunshots will let the rest of us know. We'll drop everything & push forward to link up with the sentries then fall back as a group so no one gets left out. I want somebody in the boat at all times in case it goes down hill. If we start poppin' off rounds, they need to get the engine started & unmoor it for our great escape. Whatever happens we need to be in the boat on the way home by sundown. It gets shitty out there after dark. If we have time after the solar stuff, I've got a cache nearby we can empty out & bring back too.

Questions?" he asked, his eyes darting between the assembled women.

"One of the fancier marinas was in the process of adding solar power systems to get a fat government check. Everything went to shit before they could install, but most of the materials are onsite. Several dozen panels, a little over 5x3. Those would be the primary target, then some of the cabling & other components if we have time & space. Without a battery bank the panels will only be useful when the sun's out, but even then it'll lesser our gas consumption. The materials are about 100-150 meters from the slip where we'll dock, and they aren't very common in the area. It's got some good lines of sight, so with a couple sentries we should have advanced warning of they try to come up on us." He said and Patch arched an eyebrow, just listening, so far, his plan seemed sound. She wasn't the only one with a military background, that much was made clear if she'd had any doubt, which she didn't.

"If it does go to shit; primary exfil will be by boat, the way we came. Secondary will be to ditch gear & swim out to get picked up by the boat; those fuckers don't swim. Tertiary will be to go down the main drag a block, turn right onto Winters Street and go down about a block & half to Dean's Electronics. There's a storage cage in the back with some supplies where you can lock yourself in & wait for us to regroup & extract you.

No commo on this; but we outta be close enough to yell. If the sentries catch contact, start shooting and pull back. Gunshots will let the rest of us know. We'll drop everything & push forward to link up with the sentries then fall back as a group so no one gets left out. I want somebody in the boat at all times in case it goes down hill. If we start poppin' off rounds, they need to get the engine started & unmoored it for our great escape. Whatever happens we need to be in the boat on the way home by sundown. It gets shitty out there after dark. If we have time after the solar stuff, I've got a cache nearby we can empty out & bring back too. He said and Patch nodded.

Questions?"

She looked around, the women looking to her, since she was their commanding officer. "Nah, It's a sound plan....Let's see how this goes." She said, clearly in a better mood then she had been, but Rocket helped with that the night before, she didn't like him, and she certainly didn't trust him, but she was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

What concerned her the most was his relationship with Doc. Doc was a sweetheart and much like a sister to her. Without her, this place would fall to ruin. She couldn't afford to be distracted.

"Alright, Everyone load up and move out." She called and the others got to prepping the boats, and gear.

"You." She said, looking at Eric once they were alone.

"Don't hurt her...." She told him. "I may be missing an eye but I'm not blind, This place....Without Doc, would crumble....We need her strength....and focus...." She told him, her voice low. "If you hurt her....in away, physically or otherwise.....The world will end with you...."

Eric stared at her hard for several seconds before he spoke.

"Mia is a grown-ass woman. She doesn't need a guard dog anymore than you need to worry about me hurting her." he said simply and walked away.



The mission went easy, almost too easy. With Eric riding the prow of the front boat, he directed them to the marina, and to the slips closes to their target materials, minimizing the travel distance. It took the strong backs & willing hands several hours to load everything, with Eric carrying more than his fair share of materials. 49 panels (one of the fifty delivered was broken; shattered), several spools of electrical wiring, a few hand tools, mounting brackets & some miscellaneous were loaded up & secured. Their main task done, Eric checked his watch, looked up to the sun, then back down to his watch.

"We got about three hours until sundown, give or take. If we hustle we can empty out the safehouse & be safely out on the water by dark. Three volunteers?" he asked, sweeping eyes over the women.

It the end, Patch went (Doc had made it VERY clear that if anything happened to him there would be hell), one of Patch's guards, and Holly. Holly was one of the youngest, barely eighteen now, having gone though puberty without a man in sight meant that she kept glancing at Eric when she thought no one was looking. Luckily she was also strong and a good shot, making her an easy choice for this mission and an acceptable volunteer.

Eric led them at a quick pace, almost a jog, sticking to the shadows at the sides of the streets and making almost no noise at all as he moved, always at the front. He led them down the route he'd mentioned earlier, to Dean's Electronics. The sales floor had been stripped clean; every last bit of shelving or furniture removed to leave nowhere for anyone to hide, and in the back, as he'd said, was a strongly built anti-theft storage cage where the expensive merchandise would've been kept.

It was secured with a padlock, the key still in it, and inside were a cot & sleeping bag, some cases of bottled water, freeze-dried food, some firearms & ammo and medical supplies. And some old blood stains on the floor & back wall that remained despite obvious attempts to clean them.

"Don't worry about that. Almost all of it is mine." Eric said, nodding to the blood as he opened the cage.

He loaded up the empty packs they'd brought quickly; first his, then the girls. Several No. 10 cans; coffee (three of them), sugar, powdered milk, flour, powdered butter, and orange drink mix. Most of the medical gear went too, along with some batteries, a few other doodads.

He picked up a scoped rifle off of the hand-build rack in the corner, blindly passing it off to the first set of hands as he continued gathering things; the first set of hands happening to be Holly.

"That's in .338 Lapua. It'll hit a point target at a klick & a half. With good ammo & a good shooter..."

Then a submachine gun.

"UMP-45. It's sorta like an MP-5, but in .45. Nine-mil is for Europeans & men who wax their chests..."

Last was a pistol which was put into the hands of Patch. A Colt Aztec; chambered in .38 Super, an extremely popular caliber in Mexico & Latin America; silver plated, with gold inlay & ivory grips. Exactly the kind of gaudy garbage sicarios and similar trash liked for some reason.

"The Sicario Special. .38 Super. Don't think that just because I'm giving you something shiny that it means I'm sweet on you."