Gloria leapt into her arms and hugged her neck fiercely. “Hi, Renni,” she cried out, kissing her cheek. Carter strode up and wrapped them both into his strong arms, George prancing around them happily barking. Renni returned their embrace, tears threatening. On one side Thomas stood holding a crutch of sorts to help her walk along the slick mountainous trails. On the other, Phys and Marshal watched the happy reunion in silence. It was the first time Renni had set foot out side of Marshal’s ship or the strange white room inside it.

Finally letting her go, Carter plucked his reluctant daughter from Renni’s arms and set her down on the snowy ground. He shook Thomas’ hand heartily, the wide grin never leaving his face at the strange sight of the young man. Renni noted a familiar pale gray sheen about Carter’s wrist.

“Thomas said they would find you,” Gloria said, stroking George. The dog had a strange looking jacket wrapped about its ribs and chest. It took Renni a moment to realize the faithful hound also wore one of the medical units, though his was slightly cruder than her own. 

She knelt beside the dog and wrapped her arms about his blue-gray neck. He licked her fervently on the nose and cheeks until she nearly collapsed from laughing. It felt so good to laugh again.

Thomas helped her back to her feet. Already her leg ached where the metal and flesh met and meshed. She’d only been walking on it a few days when Phys announced it was time she joined the others in the camp. With Marshal and Thomas’ help, she had shown steady improvement and could move around freely, though it did still cause her some pain at long intervals.

She lifted her head to the cool air and midday sun barely peeking through the misty layer of dull gray clouds. Soft white flakes lazily drifted and blew in a cold breeze. One flake landed on Renni’s unit covered hand and a small jolt of cold raced from the strange medical device up her arm to her mind. Thomas had been right, Phys did work wonders with nerves.

She looked again at Carter and George’s own units. As far as she could tell, and much to her relief, Gloria wore none. Knowing there was much for her to discover, she held off asking questions for a while. Carter seemed relieved at her silence when she looked up at him. Thomas handed her the crutch and she walked together with the group down the slope, away from Marshal’s ship.

Below them, set into the nook of a small valley, Renni looked upon the snow dusted tops of about fifty tents, all arranged in rows and looking very much like a satellite view of suburbia. One great tent sat in the center of the group, perhaps twenty times the size of the others. It was flanked on each side by two taller shelters. Thomas, noting her gaze, pointed to the different tents. “That one there is the mess tent, kind of our town hall. The two near it are storage sheds where we keep extra food, supplies, etcetera. There are about a hundred and fifty people down there, all rescued by Marshal and brought here.”

Renni stopped and turned to her Harbinger friend. He nodded to her. “As Renni said, marshal title not name. I marshal survivors.” She smiled and looked away back down into the valley. Trees lined the camp, surrounding it on all sides. Some dotted between the tents and one towered near the town hall.

The closer they came to the camp, the more she saw of it. Lawn chairs and camp chairs sat outside several of the tents. She noted a few coolers near the storage sheds and even saw some fishing poles leaning against the wood structures. Carter pointed out his tent near the back of the group and close to the trees.

“That’s Mrs. Shoes tent there,” he said pointing to another on the outskirts, one of the furthest from the trail leading to the ship. “Hate to put you so far out there, but she has room. She’s not all that bad, really. A little off her rocker, but harmless.”

Shocked, Renni turned to Thomas. “There are some injuries that we simply can’t heal," he said. "Mrs. Shoes was one of the survivors of a fallen transport. She might have been a little mad before the Harbingers came, but all this seems to have put her over the edge. Like Carter said, she’s pretty harmless. Sees us all as her grandkids, even Marshal and Phys. I hope you like knit sweaters, they’re kind of her specialty.”