The Terrible Tactician [VERY MATURE] [Open]

[Aadibah]

"This here town is known as Carrefore, lady. Surprised no one at the Nexus toldjya." A tall man, with wrinkled, thinning skin that shown the veins clearly underneath, his muscle looking more like pieces of meat on a kebab than actual mass. "Most of the time folks rolling in through here from the Savanna already know the name. Kinda nice being able to make conversation with a newcomer though."

"Yeah... the guy I talked to just told me how to get in here, I guess I never really asked where people were." Aadibah gave a wide grin and small laugh, "Probably shouldn't have expected the place to be populated."

"Oh no no, you see this here whole 'verse used to be where ya went to get a job, if you weren't too keen on higher edjumication." The villager waved his hand out into the great expanse that rolled away from the edge of the small pocket of civilization. "Used to be all sorts of industrial work, hell ah used to be a foreman at a plant for uh...err...." A finger came up to scratch at a balding scalp, slightly lifting up a wide-brim hat made out of dried grass. "Well damn, been so long I can't really remember much." With a shrug of the shoulders and a snapping of his overalls, he went back to the task at hand: shoveling manure from a big wooden bucket into small ditches, several rows with crops growing in-between, piles of dirt at the end of each. A younger boy, similar in hair and eye color, took his own spade and began bringing the foul fertilizer over to the other end, spreading it out along the length. "Nah might as well just head into town, find a place to stay for the night, get a drink or two at Rick's Bar, or the "Cah-fay Ameri-cain that everyone calls it..." The rest of the sentence turned into muttered grumbles as the old man spoke a few curses under his breath, something about "fancy ass primes from fancy ass places" coming.

"Pa doesn't take too kindly to the bar." Out of left field, the boy spoke up. "My dad likes it though. Spends a lot of time there too." When this came out, he never looked at Aadibah, only keeping his eyes on his work.

The soldier nodded, her gaze resting on the kid before looking into the interior of the town. The sun would be setting soon, and all of the residents were hustling and bustling about with what little business had to be taken care of. Her eyes darted back and forth between multiple groups and single persons mulling about, either chattering with friends or just strolling silently along. The engineer turned back to the pair.

"Thank you, both, for the info." The soldier un-slung her pack, setting it in the dirt and zipping the biggest pocket open to pull out several MREs before holding them out to the elderly gentleman. "Here, for your time. You need it more than I do."

I could probably make some money off hard labor here pretty quickly, and with that I can get food and a place to rest. Hell, I could probably fix just about anything around town.

The boy eyed the food intensely, biting his lip, but the grandfather shook his head before pushing it away. "No, no, Ah ain't about to take food from a la-" His polite gesture was promptly interrupted with a firm pressure on his chest, arms instinctively shooting up. Small packages of dried foodstuffs were suddenly in his hands, the only response being a short stutter. "N-now hey watch whatcher doin' there ah just 'bout fell into a pile of sh-"

Aadibah was already speed-walking her way into town. Her ears twitched at a yell, then a barked order, a groan, then small footsteps scurrying over to her.

"Lady! Lady my Pa says we're not takin' yer food!"

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"But my Pa's gonna be real sore and he's gonna keep buggin' ya!"

The soldier stopped mid-stride with the boy just a few feet behind. From his viewpoint, her head tilted back, shoulders and the back of the neck rising steadily and expanding before coming back down. She wheeled about to face him, stepping in close.

"Listen kid, I'm gonna teach you a word, okay?"

"...Okay?"

"The word is zakat."

"What the hay does that mean?"

"It means charity."

"My Pa says you shouldn't take no damn ch-"

"I don't care what your grandfather says. I am required to give charity where it is needed."

"It's still charity, I mean we go fo-"

Aadibah raised both hands, palms out, eyes slightly closing and lips pursing. After a small moment, her body relaxed.

"Okay, don't think of it as charity... think of it as... a bonus."

"A bonus?"

"Right. You ever had a job kid?"

"Nah. Ah only worked with Pa and mah dad, sometimes Mama."

"Well, that's pretty much a job. And when-"

"Well I mean it ain't re-"

"And when you work really hard, go above and beyond just what you are paid for, it's fitting to give someone a little extra."

"....so like Ahm gettin' paid in food?"

"Right."

"And those... uh..."

"MREs, just add water to them and boil, they'll taste just fine and they'll fill you up too."

"Those things are my bonus, food?" A small grin began to crack open on the boy's cheek.

"You bet."

"Because Ah been workin' mah tale off!"

"Now you're getting it. Go and tell you grandfather that if he keeps bugging me about the food though, and if I catch him not using it or throwing it away, anything but sharing it with your family, I'm gonna put my-" A closed set of fingers slamming into an open palm with a solid smack, "-fist between his eyes, understood?"

The boy smiled nervously for a moment, before laughing. "Okay, miss, uh... What was your name?"

"Aadibah. That's all you need to call me."

"Alright, mah name's Patrick, and my Pa-" He hooked a thumb over his shoulder back to the old man that had continued shoveling, "His name's John. In case you ever need to call us outta a crowd."

"Thanks, Patrick." The soldier gave him a wide, full smile, holding out her hand to him, which was shaken without hesitation.

Patrick took that as the signal to head off, sprinting away and leaving a small plume of dust. Aadibah's head arched back a bit, one eyebrow raising. "Fast kid..."

How John reacted to his grandson's news, she never saw, continuing on into the town with haste.

* * *

The town of Carrefore was like something straight out of an American cowboy movie, the few Aadibah had seen. Buildings were largely designed with the same principal in mind: Not too much and not too little. Trees were sparse, even near the center with the large pond of clear water from which citizens continuously pulled pales from, so most of the smaller bars, shops, houses, and other places only had wooden posts for necessary structural integrity. Even then, one could see scrap metal parts (I-beams, pieces of factory equipment, vehicles, etc) being implemented.

Yup. The soldier tugged the keffiyeh tighter over the top of her head, the edge pulling back and behind the corners of her eyes. Just as I told you, my God.