Story - Camp Life [Part 4]

[Author's Note: Hey there, strangers! It's been a while, hasn't it? 😂While I'm happy to upload Part 4 of the Chapter “Camp Life” I am sorry to say that most of the story was already written, and I'm still working on the scripting for the future instalments. I have some really good ideas and I'm pleased with the new direction I'm currently on...but this ultimately means more delays (probably...most likely). I'm sure many of you must be tired of me going on about delays, so I'll leave it at that. For newcomers and people who haven't checked in in a while, this part of the story takes place after the end and epilogue of the chapter “Welcome to Outlaw Country” and takes place while Part 3 of “Camp Life” is happening. Now, on to our story, already in progress.] We find ourselves outside of the garage where Hardev Jiang wanted Addams to inspect some of the vehicles they have at camp. Addams has already lifted the hood of the Sprinter van and is inspecting the components within the engine bay. Sitting inside the van is Mirei on the driver's side and Mei-Lin on the passenger side. Addams calls out to Mirei. “Ok, so when I tell you, go ahead a turn the key and try to start the van.” “Ok, say when.” “Alright, crank it.” Mirei attempts to start the vehicle. The van struggles to start for several seconds. *CLICK-ICK-ICK-ICK-ICK-ICK-ICK* “Ok Mirei, you can stop for now. We've done all we can do for the time being.” “Rrrrgggh!” Mirei give an exasperated sigh and crosses her arms in defeat. Mei-Lin sees Mirei's outburst and is not quite sure what's going on. She sheepishly asks a question. “Uncle Addams? Mirei? Is the car broken?” Mirei looks over and sees that her outburst might have upset Mei-Lin. Somewhat embarrassed, she uncrosses her arms and tries to regain her composure. Addams, who hasn't seen Mirei's outburst and is unsure why Mei-Lin might be upset, tries his best to reassure her that the situation isn't too bad. “Heh, no no, sweetie. Well, not exactly. This vehicle seem to have a bad starter motor.” Mirei looks surprised. “You can tell all that from just the clicking sounds?” “Yeah. You see, the solenoid within the starter is working and trying to deliver power, but the motor within the starter isn't getting enough power, for whatever reason, to start the engine. The only other thing it could be is a power issue with the van's battery...but we tested the battery earlier and it had enough power in it. Process of elimination points to the starter being bad. It's not the end of the world, we just need to get a replacement part. That's something I can talk to Hardev about later.” “So, we're done with this van, right? “We sure are. Why don't you and Mei-Lin hop out and we'll take a look at the next vehicle.” Mirei and Mei-Lin exit the van and the three walk over to a pickup truck. Addams raises the hood, while Mirei stands behind him and Mei-Lin hops on a small stool. Mirei continues speaking with Addams. “This is the pickup truck that Hardev says won't start at all.” Addams winces as he inspects the contents of the engine bay. This is going to be a difficult assessment. “Oh boy, this one will take a while. While I'm looking this over, let's continue on with what we were talking about earlier. You said your family is trying to come up here?” “Oh, yeah. Right. So, Aki and I are trying to get my mother and little brother up here. That's part of the reason we're trying to get the camp radio working again. My brother is currently in the hospital and he should be getting out soon. Once he is discharged, my mother is supposed to leave a recorded message that I can access through a messaging system that's reachable through the radio. Once we get the message, Hardev was going to lend us a vehicle and we're going to pick them up.” “All the way back to Nienpon? That's quite a long drive, isn't it? That also doesn't factor in ship travel via ferry” “It's not that bad, especially if you have your own vehicle. Aki and I ended up hitchhiking all the way here. That took several days. Driving directly? That's got to be four days; Six days at the max.” “Gah! Damn it!” Both Mirei and Mei-Lin are surprised by Addams's outburst. A second later, Addams embarrassingly realizes that he shouted out what he meant to mutter to himself. “Sorry Mirei and Mei-Lin, I didn't mean to say that so loudly. I just dropped my tool and cut my hand. Rrrgh. Would you hand me that clean hand towel over there?” Mirei reaches over and hands Addams the towel. As he wraps his hand up, he tries to return to the conversation they were having. “So, you and Akinori have been keeping a low profile here for several days now, right?” “Yeah. We're just staying here and helping where we can until I can get an update from my mother.” “Is your little brother ok? He didn't go in for a serious procedure, did he?” Mirei pauses, hoping to find the best way to explain her situation. “No, it wasn't too serious. He, uh, he got hurt and needed medical attention...” Addams can sense from Mirei's voice that this is a sensitive topic. Without drawing too much attention, he hopes to change the conversation to something a bit more positive. “Well, I'm sure we'll get them up here in no time. So, that's what's keeping you here for now?” “Yeah. We're not quite sure what to do from there. We might stay here longer. The camp is safe and you're always meeting new and interesting people. Not to mention, Hardev could really use the help around here. Did you know that before Aki and I arrived, it was only Hardev and Rodriguez working this whole place?!” “That's way too much work for just two people.” Mirei sees an opening to ask the question that is really on her mind: How long are the three of them (especially Morris) are going to be staying at the camp. “Well, how about the three of you? How long do you think you'll be staying up here at camp?” Addams thinks back to when Mirei was clutching onto Morris's arm. With Mirei standing directly behind him, Addams give a knowing smirk before answering the question. He tries his best to feign ignorance, hoping to lightly tease Mirei. “Oh, I'm not so sure. I know we need to stay for several days, probably a week or so, but I'm not quite sure right now. I'll have a better answer in a few days, once the three of us can finally relax for once.” This was not the answer Mirei was hoping for. She lets out a soft but definitely irritated huff. Addams catches this and sees that his teasing appears to have worked. Mirei tries to continue looking for information, but this time from a different approach. “So, what brings the three of you to Outlaw Country...that is, if you don't mind me asking.” Addams stops working and pulls his face out of the engine bay. “Mei-Lin, sweetie, could you grab me that red and black impact wrench and the 10mm socket from the same package? The socket is the short, stubby piece that has '10mm' written on the side.” “Okie-dokie!” Mei-Lin briskly jogs over to the impact gun's carry case and brings the tool and socket to Addams. “These are the ones you wanted, right?” Addams looks to the tool in her hands. “Sure is, pumpkin! Good eye! That's exactly what I wanted.” Addams gives Mei-Lin a pat on the head and an exaggerated and over-acted thumbs up. Mei-Lin is swept up by the encouragement and returns the thumbs up gesture with more expression. Mirei chuckles, but then notices a possible deflection. She asks her question again. “So, uh, about you three coming up here to Outlaw Country...” There is hesitancy in Addams voice, but he decides that the question is worth answering, at least to a degree. “Well, I can't say too much right now...but, um, well...let's just say that Morris and I saw something wrong, we decided to do the right thing, and that made a lot of very powerful people very angry. Morris and I weren't going to stay around and deal with them, so we gathered our things, we brought Mei-Lin along with us, and now we're on the run from the Federal Union. That's most of the story. How about you and Akinori? What brings you two up here? There is also hesitancy in Mirei's voice. Both Addams and Mirei realize that they are both keeping information away from one another...but given their own reasons, they both decide not to press the other for more information than they're willing to provide. “Why we're up here? Well, umm, Aki and I are in a similar position to yours, but there wasn't a 'right thing' we could do. Aki and I, we were just in the wrong place at the wrong time...but like the three of you, we angered a lot of very important people...” While Mei-Lin is more or less oblivious to the conversation taking place, both Addams and Mirei slowly realize that their positions are quite similar...almost eerily similar...