13 - He'll be okay.
[email protected]
And the other day, there is this fellow coming
around door to door. A young guy, couldn't have
been more than 18 or 19, probably. He's dressed in
nice clothes with a tie, and he says he's the
local candidate for the Greens in the next
republic election. Which was totally weird,
because we've not had an elected representative
around here for years. We're not even part of that
anymore. It's true, I looked it up on a map one
time, and this whole area and most of what I know
to east of here, is all grey and marked "CEDED".
But anyways, I listen politely as he talks about
"rebuilding" and "reconnecting" and "bringing it
back" and this and that. He's nice and well
spoken and all that... and I hate to admit it, but
I got to stick with the Braxon chieftains around
these parts. They got guns and walkie talkies,
and a deal with the truckers.
But I guess I feel like chatting anyways, so I ask
him what his plan is to deal with the ogres. And I
don't think he really gets what I was talking
about. And then as bad luck would have it, a dozen
or so goblins pour out of that hole behind my
house and go running into the street. The kid sees
this and sort of yelps, and that startles a
hobgoblin who turns and blows a dart into his
leg. The kid screams and goes down hard. After the
goblins clear out, I help him back to his car at
the entrance to the complex, and his girl friend
or whoever was waiting for him there is totally
freaking out. I try to explain that there is
rarely any lasting nerve damage from whatever's on
those darts. But he's drooling and half paralyzed
by then, and she's screaming at me like it's my
fault or something. I feel a bit like they're over
reacting, but really it's just that some folks
aren't used to this kind of thing yet. But in a
week or two, he'll be okay.
