I'll keep them around.

"Let's just... Keep them around." You manage.

"Keep them?" Ashley asks while the others start to laugh.

You look up. "I'm serious. We might not have a use for them, but you're telling me that there isn't a farm or a village that would be glad to take these girls for work?"

"Work?" Ashley shakes his head. "These girls are just fuckable slabs of meat."

"Fuck you!" Arabella spits.

"I suppose we don't really have anything else to do with them in the meantime." He continued, sucking his teeth. "Sure, let's keep the mutties."

Ashley tells the others to tie them up because it's “better safe than sorry,” so you help the others tie up Arabella, Mikko, and apparently “Gwendolion,” who don’t put up much of a fight. Then, you surround the fire and start talking. Honestly speaking, this didn’t end up horribly.

You’re glad you didn’t resist the others, but it feels weird to know you helped “arrest” the girl you almost **** yourself and two others. While the others chat, you can hear the girls quietly talk to each other too. Every time you stop, they stop too. You figure it’s probably nothing, but it does make you wonder what they are scheming.

The night starts to become quieter, allowing everyone to fall asleep. Gwendolion and Mikko seem to have fallen asleep. This leaves you and Arabella to be the only ones awake. You quietly walk over to her and kneel down to apologize.

“Shut up,” she spits. “And go away.”

All the air leaves your lungs as you exhale. “The best I can do is ensure you’re let off in the right direction.”

“Idiot! There is no right direction.” She hisses. “Just go away. I don’t want to talk to you.”

You stand up to leave, and she doesn’t stop you. So you sit near where the others are sleeping to stoke the fire. The recent movements caused Mikko and Gwendolion to wake up. They discover Arabella is awake and start talking to her. It makes no sense, but every so often, they express worry and discomfort. Arabella doesn’t offer any reinsurance, which probably means she’s too hopeless to do anything. Perhaps you should kill them? Let them go? You sigh and adjust your gaze to where they stare blankly.

Eventually, Mikko lets out a pathetic whine, loudly complaining about how pointless being alive was now. You blinked and then let out an annoyed exhale, wondering if you had made their lives meaningless. You never bothered looking at the ups and downs of being an NSH. You knew that many of them were “pampered” slaves, used as either maids or farmhands, and apparently substitute gun runners during off-seasons when no one with a right mind would want to be out doing dirty work. Perhaps this was all they knew. Maybe their owner was more brutal than you thought, and all that fear and hopelessness came from experience.

Could you use them? You think about all the shit you left at the tavern, all the equipment you haul, and the annoying side stuff you have to keep track of. Contracts, names, campgrounds, betting on partners being decent and ordinary.

The longer you listened to them, the more you played with the thought of having them around. The males seemed eager to be working for whoever their owner was, while the females were breaking their backs because they had to. You wondered what would happen if you took them in and trained them to care about you instead.

You clean your teeth, now stoking the fire. The flames brighten, igniting the three figures in the corner. You let a small curse part from your throat before you get up. “Who’s your boss?”

“A-Amara,” Gwendolion stammered. “We’re all members of the Automatic Rifle Syndicate.”

You nod. That name didn't do anything to you, but you wanted to show them concern. “Are you a big group or something?”

Gwendolion, surprised by your initial introduction to her conversation, tries to answer you, but Mikko kicks her. “Shut up, Gwen!”

You turn to Mikko. “Hey, hey...I just want to help. I didn’t mean for things to get so bloody. I want to help.” It’s why I’m still fucking here, actually… “Please tell me more about your group so I can help more. I want to see what I can do for you both.”

Gwendolion blushed, but Mikko didn’t seem all that fazed. “We can’t say anything about what we do, or we will be introduced to conditioning.”

“Conditioning? You all look incredibly healthy. So fit, fed, and cared for.”

“Of course, we’re being used to run weapons to the factions here,” she darts her gaze at Arabella, who hasn’t said anything since you returned. “That’s all I should say.”

“But, how big is your group? Is someone going to take you back and put you in circulation again? I can tell the three of you deserve better.”

“Get out of here,” Arabella looks up at you. “You are hardly trustworthy.”

“Doesn’t sound like Amara can be trusted either...Look, I have a plan that’ll benefit all four of us.” You look behind you. Ashely and everyone else is still asleep, but they didn’t seem to care what you would do with them anyway. “Clearly, you’re uncomfortable with your owner-”

“Master Amara is terrible…” Gwendolion says.

“-and I need someone to keep track of my gear while I go in and out of my area of operation. Now, listen...I know we haven’t had a great track record here, but I am more than willing to offer you guys someplace new to live and a better lifestyle. I’m not going to punish you or expect any deadlines. Are you familiar with cleaning guns and whatever?”

The girls nod. You look at Arabella, who doesn’t seem to be on board yet. So you continue your selling points. “If your people won’t go off looking for the rest of you, I will give you a better life. Granted, it won’t be polished and perfect, but I’ll treat you fairly.”

“Then maybe we should–” Gwendolion perks up to the others, but Arabella snaps at her.

“Gwendolion! Would you just shut up!?”

You interject. “OK… I have to ask. GwendoLION?”

Arabella groans. “Like a dandelion. There’s more to it, but that’s mostly all of it.” She answers.

“Right. Well, listen Arabella. If you don’t want any part of this, then you’re free to go off on your own. I’m not twisting anyone’s arm here. I just need some help, and you guys seem to be down on your luck…”

“We’ll join you!” Mikko leaps. “My sister and I will make ourselves perfect for your needs! Cooking! Cleaning! Maintaining! Personal care and helpers!”

“Yes! Yes! We will! Just– just keep us away from Amara! We’ll do everything you need and help you with everything!” Gwendolion leaped, too, offering the same promise. “Anything! Don’t discard us away, please! Please!”

That didn’t take a whole lot of work for the SISTERS. So you look back at Arabella. She seems unsure, but as she looks at the sisters, you can gauge she’s close to accepting.

“Arabella, please come with us! You deserve so much better! Surely, whoever this man is, better than Amara!” Mikko says no idea that you narrowly **** her. “No more ****-”

“Mikko. Stop right there.” A flare of anger burns in Arabella’s eyes as she raises her voice. “If you two idiots are going with this contractor, then you’re leaving me ****.”

“Yes!” Gwendolion cheers shortly after her sister.

Arabella looks back at you, though. “However, once we get out of this place, I’d like to sit down all together and talk about some rules.”

“Yeah, I can’t have you three fucking my shit up while I’m out. So, I’m glad we have a basic understanding of that already. Until we’re out of here, though, I’m sure Ashley and the others would like it if you were all under restraints still…”

The three of them fall into silence. “I’m...Going to go to sleep now. I suggest you all do the same. It sounds like we have a long day ahead of us still…”