"Uhhhh hi" I said awkwardly.

With an acknowledging nod, Brittock threw his duffle bag into the humvee.

"What are doing, honey?" I asked in fake, high pitch voice. Brittock gave me an odd look but continued his way toward Gerry. I followed, taking brisk, quick steps to keep up with him.

"I am going with you" Brittock said before reaching Gerry. "Hanniter, you know the procedure. I leave everything in your hands. We should not be gone more than a month, but everything is charged and set for two years"

"Why? Why are you going?" I persisted, grabbing his tensely muscled upper arm.

Gerry nodded at Brittock and waved goodbye to me subtly before stepping backwards, away from the vehicle.

"You seem like you do not want me to go" Brittock said, looking down at me.

"No, no, no" I said quickly, "I am happy you want to go with us... but can you? You know... leave?"

"I am not chained here" was his only remark.

"Surprising, considering how much you like them" I mumbled.

"Excuse me?" Brittock asked, glaring at me before bending down and picking up a wooden box. I waited for him to load the crate of water onto the back of the vehicle.

"I-" was the start of my sentence, but I became sidetracked by the view that had unfolded before me. I had not noticed, until this second, the form fitting, tan pants and tight green muscle shirt that Brittock had chosen to wear. His lace up boots were tied tightly and ended mid calf, giving him the complete appearance of desert soldier. His biceps flexed with the slight effort required to lift a second crate and this time, I took the opportunity to stare. I had an excellent view of his perfect back side encased in the shapely pants.

"Yes?" he asked, turning to me.

"Huh? I- uh- yeah. You're tight... I mean right. You can come with us if you want. I'm just gonna-" I said spinning around in circles until I decided to walk back to the supply shed.

I heard the low, deep chuckle that occasionally escaped new Brittock and fled quickly away hoping to hide my embarrassment.

"What do you want sweetheart?" Gerry asked, placing his forearm on my head.

"Give me a... Katana, small handgun, preferable a Glock, and an... assault rifle" I said, looking at the array of weaponry.

"I can do that" Gerry said, taking off deep into the building.

"I wish I had had this when I was on the run. You have no idea how much work I had to go through to get the weapons I owned" I mumbled.

"That's your own fault, you could have come here like we asked" Gerry yelled, shuffling and scraping following his voice as he retrieved my requested weaponry.

"Yeah yeah" I replied snidely. I was looking upward at the ceiling to floor weapons shelves when I felt a small hand on my back. I jumped at the contact and turned around, reaching for the small knife that I had always kept on my waist band. When I turned to find Mina behind me, I smiled nervously and chuckled.

"I'm sorry, I'm a little jumpy" I said, dropping my arms.

'It is perfectly fine' she signed.

"Hey, Gerry, add a Bowie knife to that order" I yelled, before quieting my tone, "did you need something?"

'No, I just wanted to tell you be safe, be smart, and here' she said, and bent down and handed me a pile of clothes that rested on a tub.

With a furrowed brow, I reached out and grabbed the top garment, finding it to be my camisole and underneath that lie my button down, all from before my journey to The City.

"My clothes!" I yelled in joy.

'Yes and no. Your clothing was damaged and in desperate need of repair and upgrades, so I had thermal/cooling technology brought in so I could sew them into the garments. I also fixed tears, holes, and removed... stains. The pants now turn into shorts if you want, and the button down can be made into a long sleeve or short sleeve. They should keep you warm at night and cool during the day' Mina explained.

I stared at her with eyes filled with happy tears and said, "Thank you" before hugging her. I took my clothes to a corner and changed out of the uncomfortable ones I was wearing and slid on my old... yet new... ones. They felt like heaven on my skin, more breathable and soft than before, but still like home. I unzipped the pant portion off of the legs and stuffed them in my pocket, telling myself to remember to tie them to my backpack. I rolled up and secured the sleeves to my button down and opened the top three buttons to reveal my brown camisole.

"It's so strange, seeing my legs tan and dark" I mumbled as I approached Mina.

'From what I understand, you used to be very fair in complexion' Mina said.

"Yes. I got third degree sunburns everyday. It's a good thing I heal because otherwise I would have died. But I handle sun much better now" I remarked, examining my tanned arms.

'Are you going to go back... to your original appearance?' Mina asked hesitantly.

"Thats right. This is the only 'me' you've known... actually, no Mina. I don't think I will. I've grown accustomed to my appearance and don't really feel like go through the devastation of changing my physical being again" I said with a laugh. Mina smiled, appearing slightly relieved.

"Here ya go" Gerry said, handing me the gear. I glared at the items for a second before snapping my fingers and going to a tub marked 'holsters'. I rooted around until I found what I was looking for, a chest holster and a fitted waist holster, designed to be worn like a harness. I used an extra belt and zip ties to connect them and make one huge ensemble. I put the Glock on my left hip, assault rifle on my right, Bowie knife in a sheath on my belt loop and sword onto the strap running parallel to my spine.

"Perfect" I said with a smile as I clipped the last buckle in place.

"No wonder we couldn't catch you" Gerry mumbled before hugging me. Mina also hugged me as well, after which I returned to the humvee, in which Rodney and Brittock sat.

I climbed in the back and we drove through the gates, back out into the wastes of New America.